Change is Inevitable
by Taela
Summary: An American mindreader beating up our favorite potions master, Ginny plotting against Harry, and, most importantly, Tonks and Remus struggling with a newfound aspect of their relationship. What will happen? Only time can tell. Well, that and the authors.
1. A Temporary Return

This is a story created bytwo best friends. We are Jewel and Taela. Jewel's the one that created this lovely plot line and the one who creates the chapter outlines. I, Taela, am here to write it up all nice and pretty and in a form that is actually understandable. Oh, and as a forewarning, the first chapter or so may not be all that grand, or resemble that much of the rest of the story, but it's just a stepping-stone to get us to where we need to be. So please be a little patient. Believe us when we say that it gets much better later on. You know, when we finally get to the Tonks and Remus part.

Disclaimer: Amazingly enough, we aren't J.K Rowling. These characters sadly do not belong to us, and really, why would you even think that? Oh, and please don't take the few things that _do_ belong to us. We worked hard to create them.

**Ch. 1 – A Temporary Return**

The familiar noises of the Hogwarts Express carried on around the quiet compartment that held Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Nothing much had been said since they boarded the train early that afternoon, and even then, the only expression made was Hermione's exclamation that Ron had stepped on her foot, again. They had all been deep in their own thoughts about the recent events, taking it in turns to glance at each other or stare at the floor, the ceiling, the door, or out of the window. It was an uncomfortable silence that nobody really wanted to break.

When the food cart came around, with Ron's mind on his stomach, he finally mumbled something about food.

"If you're that hungry, Ronald," said an exasperated Hermione, "then get something to eat."

Her statement was short and simple, but it was enough to break the silence.

"Get me something, too," Ginny blurted from behind her magazine.

"Then give me some money."

"You have your own money.".

"Exactly, it's my money. I'm not buying _you_ anything with it."

"Can't you just be a nice, big brother for a change and get me something to eat when I'm hungry?"

"No, that's Bill's job. Or maybe Charlie's. Mine is to be the annoying big brother."

"I thought that was Fred and George's job."

They continued arguing. Harry finally got out his own money and proceeded to buy enough food for everyone. He then tossed some of the food imbetween the arguing siblings who remained oblivious to the sudden appearance of the sweets.

"You didn't have to do that, Harry," Hermione said.

"Yeah, I did. I'm getting tired of hearing them argue."

He then decided to poke Ron in the side, carelessly with his wand, getting the response:

"Ow! What was that for?"

Harry's reply came in the form of him silently pointing his wand to the large pile of food.

"Oh…um…I couldn't—" Ron protested.

"You can and you will. Now please stop arguing."

Ron immediately began to rummage through the pile of food, followed shortly by Ginny who showed her gratitude with a small, grateful smile directed towards Harry.

After the brief amount of words exchanged, the group returned to their solitude. Eventually, Ginny became annoyed with the bad atmosphere in the compartment, and abruptly stood up, announcing that she was going to go find her other friends. Her brief departure went practically unnoticed.

Lost in his thoughts once more, Harry continued to replay the recent events over and over again in his mind. The thought that this was his last ride on the Hogwarts Express kept popping up into his head. He would never again be returning to his true home. Without Dumbledore, Hogwarts was…well, just not Hogwarts. It would never be home again. Harry would have to find a new place to call home.

He glanced over at the bench opposite him to find Hermione asleep with her head resting lightly on Ron's shoulder. Oblivious to Harry's watching eyes, Ron gently put his arm around her and began to smile to himself. This only averted Harry's thoughts back to Ginny, a topic that he absolutely refused to let himself think of.

Before they knew it, the train was coming to a stop, and Hermione awoke suddenly. The trio gathered their stuff as they were told to leave the train. Harry was one of the last to leave the Hogwarts Express, turning around to have one last, fond glance at it before turning his back to it and proceeding to say farewell to his best friends. He then scanned the crowds for the Dursleys. There was no sign of them. Well, one thing had gone right today…depending on how you looked at it.

"Hello, Harry," said a solemn voice from behind him.

Harry spun around to see Remus Lupin standing there, hand-in-hand with Tonks. Suddenly, Lupin bent his head down to say something inaudibly to her. Tonks nodded and cheerfully raised a hand in farewell, then Apparated off of the platform to who-knows-where.

"I'm here to take you home," Lupin explained to Harry. "Or at least, I'm to escort you back to the Dursleys. We have a ministry car waiting outside. They seem to have taken a keen interest in your well-being lately."

"Yes, they would have, wouldn't they?" Harry mumbled bitterly.

"Well, at least it's a legal way to get you to where you need to go," Lupin said, leading Harry out to the car.

"I suppose."

The voyage was brief. Nothing much was said between Harry and Lupin except for polite conversation that completely avoided the recent goings-on in the wizarding world. Neither was quite ready to bring anything up so soon after the funeral that had occurred that morning.

Lupin helped Harry to get his things out of the car, and as they were walking up the walkway to Privet Drive, the ministry car drove out of sight. Harry looked questioningly to Lupin, getting the reply of:

"I have the ability to Apparate. I'm in no need of the ministry's assistance, and they're in no need of mine."

Together, they walked up sidewalk to the front door. Harry rang the doorbell and waited awkwardly for the door to open, glad to have his friend and mentor at his side. Suddenly, two beady eyes could be seen peering from behind a curtain in the front windows, followed shortly by the explosion of Uncle Vernon whipping the door open. He grabbed the front of Harry's shirt and viciously yanked him inside, while Lupin quickly followed him in, his calm complacency temporarily shattered.

Lupin addressed Uncle Vernon fiercely, while still containing a slight amount of his usual calm demeanor. "You will take your hands off of your nephew right now before you have half of the magical world attacking you in return."

Uncle Vernon quickly let go of Harry and proceeded to glare at this new intruder into his home while his face grew redder and redder from rage.

"You can't tell me what to do in my own home!" roared the angry Vernon, apparently oblivious to the fact that he had just obeyed the order.

"It looks like I just did. And you'd better listen to me, because I have some important things to say. Harry will be staying here for the remainder of this summer until his seventeenth birthday, at which time he will be of legal age in the wizarding world."

At the mention of 'wizarding,' Uncle Vernon very visibly flinched, growing angrier by the second. Harry just contented himself to watch the scene unfold, reminding himself never to get on the bad side of Lupin.

"He is also to remain well-treated."

"Let me tell you—," however, he was abruptly cut off by Lupin's raised hand and cold stare.

"Now, Harry, shall we take your stuff to your room?"

Once they had gotten into Harry's room, Lupin said, "I hope you were paying attention to what I said down there."

Harry quickly nodded.

"Good. Now, as I said, until your birthday, you are to stay here. Do you hear me? No leaving. And we'll be watching you. Have no doubt of that. It may be myself or someone else that I trust deeply, but we will be checking in with you periodically to make sure that you're behaving and, of course, still here. Do you understand me, Harry?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Now, be good, stay here, and please, Harry, watch your back."


	2. Freedom at Last

Well, this is the second chapter in this story, a joint effort between two best friends who are severely obsessed with Harry Potter. Just as a reminder, this story is meant to be mainly Remus/Tonks, however, we needed to establish a bit of a background and a stereotypical Harry Potter beginning, so we've started off with Harry. Don't worry, though, you'll see your beloved Remus/Tonks soon enough.

The disclaimer for the last chapter still stands for this one. It's just common sense.

**Ch. 2 – Freedom at Last**

A thunderous banging aroused Harry from his sleep, and he was temporarily disoriented while he attempted to recall where he was and why. Then all of the pieces fit together and he groaned, remembering he was stuck with the Dursleys for the time being. Harry rolled over onto his side, attempting to fall back to sleep and remain like that until he was given permission to leave this dreaded house.

However, he wasn't given that chance as the banging repeated itself. This time, Harry was lucid enough to realize that it was someone knocking on his door. A knock that he had already heard quite enough times in his life. Harry couldn't help but groan again.

"Are you awake in there, boy?" shouted his Uncle Vernon from the other side of the door. "Petunia wants you to make breakfast. Now!"

Harry gave a mumbled reply that seemed to satisfy his uncle, for he heard his booming footsteps walk down the stairs. Reluctantly, he got up to get ready and finally made his way down to the kitchen to do as he was told.

As he was alternately patronized or ignored throughout the day, Harry began to think, _I really don't know how much longer I can take this._ It was a thought that repeated itself many times in his head over the next few days.

Lupin himself came to check on Harry that next day, and the next day, and the next day. He only stayed for a few minutes each time, but it seemed as if Harry would be checked upon daily for the rest of his life, as if they didn't trust him. Then again, he didn't seem to have the greatest track record at obeying orders.

After those first few days, other members of the Order of the Phoenix would come to check on him. Mad-Eye Moody came a few times, always shouting the same warning of "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" that began to get old after a while. However, Harry's watchmen (or women) began to come less often. While it may have been a relief to not be watched like a prisoner anymore, Harry almost wished that they would come more often for the sole purpose of giving him a break from the Dursleys. He wished passionately to be able to hold a normal conversation with a person that wouldn't end up throttling him by the end of it.

To worsen matters, the Dursleys seemed to be punishing Harry for when Dumbledore had barged into their home the summer before. His treatment was, if possible, worse, and Harry wished for nothing more than to be rid of them for the rest of his life.

Harry tried to dampen his anger by sending letters to Ron and Hermione, and sometimes even Ginny. Nothing important was ever said, though, due to the fear of their mail being intercepted by their enemies. A few times, Ron and Hermione were allowed to apparate to Privet Drive with Lupin as an escort, however, they had to be careful not to be noticed by the Dursleys. Only in person could they fully discuss their plans, and never often or for long. They were even further dampened by the constant presence of Lupin, who they didn't exactly want knowing that they were taking matters into their own hands. Not to mention, Mrs. Weasley was obsessive about the whole lot of them, refusing to let them out of her sight for less than a few minutes at a time, except for Harry, of course, who remained imprisoned with his Aunt and Uncle.

The whole of their conversations had left them with the assumption that the R.A.B. mentioned in the locket was perhaps Regulus Black, the younger brother of Sirius. However, Hermione refused to fully believe it until they could find proof, due to the fact that Regulus was supposed to have been fully devoted to Voldemort. The facts did make sense, though. Harry had recalled Sirius mentioning his brother once, saying only that Voldemort had killed him, or most likely, Voldemort had instructed someone to kill Regulus for him.

So it was on this wild tangent that the trio began their theories. The unmasking of the mysterious R.A.B. would no doubt help them along their journey of finding and destroying the horcruxes, so they began their long and arduous task with this goal.

Or rather, Ron and Hermione began with this goal while Harry stayed with the Dursleys like a good little boy and became their own personal house elf once more.

Near the end of his third week with the Dursleys, Harry could no longer take the ridicule that he had been dealing with.His patience hit an all time low when Uncle Vernon pounded on his door bright and early one day, as he had done every day of the summer. Harry had made up his mind. Unconsciously, he had been planning out his escape all summer and only now did it surface to the top of his mind. He pulled out a quill and some parchment and then proceeded to write two letters, one to Ron and one to Hermione. Both were blunt in case of interception:

_Ron –_

_I'm leaving. Meet me outside your brother's shop mid-tomorrow and bring Hermione._

_-- Harry_

Hermione's said even less to prevent her from stopping Harry. As another precaution, Harry decided to wait to send her letter until he had already left.

_Hermione –_

_I'm leaving. Don't try to stop me, because I've already left. Find Ron, he'll take you to where we're meeting._

_-- Harry_

Looking over the letters one last time, he summoned Hedwig, giving Ron's letter to her.

"Take this to Ron," Harry instructed while stroking her feathers. "Make sure to be back before dark and don't leave to go hunting. I'll have another important delivery for you."

Hedwig friendly nipped hisfingers in a gesture of understanding before taking off through the open window. Harry sighed as he watched her glide off in the horizon. Suddenly, the door burst open to reveal Uncle Vernon with a purple face contorted with rage, as it always was around Harry.

"Boy, why aren't you making breakfast yet?"

"Why do I always have to do as I'm told? Make your own breakfast for a change." Harry responded hotly to the intrusion of his semi-peace.

This response only seemed to anger Uncle Vernon even more, for he advanced on Harry and began to shake his fist at him.

"I'll tell you –"

"You'll tell me nothing that I'm willing to hear."

Uncle Vernon ignored the interruption and continued, "You will do as you're told in this house so long as we are keeping a roof over your head.

Harry debated upon whether it was worth it to continue arguing, then decided that it was better to let his uncle have his way. So he attempted to push his bulky uncle out of the way, failed, then hopped over his bed in order to storm out of the doorway.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful. Harry seemed to be slightly more complacent than usual, as he was divulging in his thoughts to thoroughly plan his escape from his makeshift prison. He had no need to worry about being caught by Lupin since someone had just come the day before to check on him. Harry figured that he had at least aday or so before somebody else would come to check on him again.

When Harry was sent out to water the flowers in the front of the house, he managed to grab Hedwig's cage from his room and hide it in the bushes for a stealthier escape that night. Then Harry helped to make dinner, a meal of ham and side dishes, making sure that there would be plenty of left over food, a hard feat in a house with Uncle Vernon and Dudley.

After dinner, Harry returned to his room to find that Hedwig had returned and carried a letter for him. It was from Ron, merely stating that it was a bad idea to leave, but he'd go along with it anyways and that he would try his best to get Hermione to go with him, but there were no gaurantees.

Harry finished his packing, a task that was fairly easy to accomplish considering that he didn't own much except for his school things that were already in his trunk, albeit rather messily thrown in. He had managed to smuggle an extra suitcase out of the hall closet earlier, and that he used to pack his remaining things in that wouldn't fit inside of his school trunk. All that went in there was his hand-me-down muggle clothes and the books that he didn't regularly take to Hogwarts. He made sure that he had cleared out the hidden compartment under the loose floorboard and then made a final sweep of the room. All that remained was the bed, desk, and an empty wardrobe. And, of course, his trunk, suitcase, and a restless Hedwig, eager to get out into the night. On his bed he left one of the few wizard's robes he owned that wasn't a Hogwarts uniform. He would need to change into it before heading off.On his desk was one small piece of parchment and a quill with an inkbottle.

Harry left his room to peer down the staircase and listen to the usual noises of the Dursley house after dinner. From what he could tell, they were all in the living room watching the television. So he grabbed his extra suitcase and made his way quietly down the stairs, although he had no need to worry about the Dursleys noticing him while they were submerged in the depths of the television.

Under the pretense of taking the trash out, Harry managed to hide his suitcase in another bush near the one where Hedwig's cage was still hidden.

Returning to his room, he sat down at his desk with the parchment and quill and then considered writing a farewell letter to the Dursleys, thanking them for taking care of him all of these years and explaining to them that they were finally free of him for good. However, he realized that there wasn't much to thank them for and that they wouldn't really care anyways. Still, it wasn't polite to leave them high and dry. Although they weren't exactly the politest of people.

He sat there for what seemed like forever before finally deciding what to put on the paper. All it said was "bye" and that it was from Harry. He had partially considered writing "don't worry about me" but he knew that they wouldn't, anyway. So he left it with its simple but effective message.

-----

Harry waited until he was positive that each and every one of the Dursleys was sound asleep before he sent Hedwig outside to wait for him. Harry put on his robe, made sure he had his wand securely in his _front_ pocket, and then put Hermione's letter in another pocket. Checking his room once more to make sure thathe had everything, he left the short message for the Dursleys on his bare mattress for them to find in the morning.

Silently, he carried his trunk down the stairs with an ease that he had never achieved before. He left it sitting by the front door, then walked into the kitchen to make two sandwiches with the remaining ham from dinner. He grabbed a soda from the refridgerator and stuffed the small meal in his trunk for later. Then,he briskly walked out the door without an ounce of regret.

Hedwig met him outside.She perched on his arm expectantly while Harry tied Hermione's letter to her.

"Hedwig, take this to Hermione. Make sure she obeys it. And stay with her, she'll lead you back to me. I'm never coming back here again."

Harry proceeded to gather his trunk and the hidden suitcase and bird cage before walking down the street a ways so as to not be easily noticed or followed. He then held out his wand arm to the effect of making a large, purple,triple-decker bus appear. Somehow, this whole scene of him stranded without anything but his trunk and the sudden appearance of the Kinght Bus seemed oddly familiar.

His greeting by the usual Stan Shunpike brought a certain amount of joy to him, since that meant that Stan had been released from his wrongly-accused stay Azkaban. Finally, somebody in the ministry had listened to Harry. Or, at least, they had listened to the complaints of the wizarding community.

Stan helped Harry to get his things on the bus while Harry attempted to find an empty seat among the beds. As he passed the full first floor, he noticed some very interesting people, considering that it was somewhere around midnight, if not later. Only one person particularly stood out to him, however. It was a woman that reminded Harry of an older Ginny, with flowing, red hair and a defiant demeanor. However, he thought nothing much of it and continued up the stairs to the emptysecond floor where he chose the first bed available.

Once his stuff was sitting neatly beside the bed, Harry sat down on the edge of it and put his head in his hands. The only thought running through his head was, _Lupin's gonna kill me._

At that precise moment, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs before he felt sombody suddenly jump onto his bed. Instantly, Harry stood up and turned around, taking his wand out of his pocket as he did so. Much to his surprise, it was the woman that greatly resembled Ginny, sitting cross-legged on his bed and smiling at him.

All she said was, "Wotcher, Harry!"


	3. An Unexpected Follower

This is Jewel's favorite chapter so far. Granted, we haven't written that many yet. But they're coming. And this is a good chapter. Look for the hints. They'll help you later. And once more, we aren't JK Rowling no matter how much we may want to be her.

**Last Chapter:**

The only thought running through his head was, _Lupin's gonna kill me._

At that precise moment, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs before he felt somebody suddenly jump onto his bed. Instantly, Harry stood up and turned around, taking his wand out of his pocket as he did so. Much to his surprise, it was the woman that greatly resembled Ginny, sitting cross-legged on his bed and smiling at him.

All she said was, "Wotcher, Harry!"

**Ch.3 – An Unexpected Follower**

That phrase rang a bell in his head, however Harry just couldn't seem to place its origin. He had the feeling that he knew this person, even though he couldn't figure out who it was.

"Uh…who are you?" Harry stuttered.

The woman gave him a bewildered look that clearly said, "have you lost your mind?" before a look of comprehension ran across her face and she muttered a small "oh!" As a response to his question, the unknown person wrinkled her nose as if deep in thought before her hair suddenly became short, spiky, and bubblegum pink. It was all that Harry needed to recognize her.

"Tonks! What are you doing here?"

"Well, Remus sent me to keep an eye out for you escaping. We all figured that you'd do it in the end. Frankly, I'm surprised that you hadn't left sooner."

"How long have you been on here?"

"Oh, do you remember when Remus whispered something to me at the train station when you arrived back from Hogwarts?"

"Yeah, what about it?"  
"Well, I had the wonderful task of sitting on this blasted bus every night since then."

"Every night?"

"Yeah, Remus actually thought you were going to leave the very first night."

"He doesn't have much faith in me, then."

"He just knows you, Harry."

It shocked Harry a bit to think that he had become known as not obeying orders. Granted, he usually broke every rule in sight, but only in dire circumstances. Which always happened to occur around him.

While Harry had been struck with some realization of his situation, Tonks had continued talking, "Yeah, Remus had the whole first week."

"For what?"

"For the bet!"

"The bet? You were betting on when I was going to leave?"

"Yeah, if you had left just a week earlier, a week earlier, Harry, I would have had the whole thing. Fifteen galleons!"

It astounded Harry that they would take his situation so unseriously that they could bet upon him. Really, what did they make him out to be? However, his curiosity still got the better of him.

"So who did win?"

"Ron."

"Ron?" Harry shouted bewildered.

"He actually just got into the game."

Another bout of realization struck Harry as he remembered the letter that he had sent to Ron, stating when he'd be leaving. He thought of asking Tonks when Ron had entered the bet, but decided against it since he didn't want to arouse suspicion to Ron. He deserved the money.

"Mad-eye didn't want him in, he thought it was too late, but the rest of us thought it was great. More money in the jackpot. I'm having second thoughts now. But oh well, he won fair and square."

At this, Harry had to fight himself to keep from smiling. Fair and square?

Tonks was still talking. Apparently, she'd been stuck alone for way too long. "Why didn't you leave sooner? It's been so annoying sitting here every single night. I've been running out of disguises, you know."

"Is that why you chose Ginny?"

"Yeah, did I really look a lot like her?

"Almost fooled me."

"Well that's good. So, where are we going Harry?"

"_We?_ There's no 'we.' I'm going somewhere, but not with you."

"I'm afraid that you have to. Not only has Remus given me strict orders to keep you safe, but this assignment was originally given to me via the ministry. Apparently, they want me to keep close tabs on their beloved mascot."

Harry rolled his eyes at the thought of being a mascot, let alone actually being cared about by the ministry. At this point, however, Tonks had averted into talking about random topics, one leading to another until Harry could really care less about what she was saying. So he dived into his thoughts and began to attempt to form a plan in order to get rid of Tonks. She may be one of the most interesting members of the Order of the Pheonix, but at the moment, he needed to work alone with his two best friends.

_Maybe I could trick her into leaving me? Eh, not likely. What if I tried to lose her? She does seem to get distracted easily. Well, she's a trained Auror. I bet she could track me much better than I give her credit for._

He was interrupted in his thoughts by Tonks asking, "Are you listening to me?"

"Oh, yes, of course."

It seemed to satisfy her because she continued to talk about whatever it was she was talking about. She seemed to be talking about Lupin now. Or, Remus, as she called him. It was really weird to think of a professor as having a first name. Then again, it was even weirder to think of a teacher as having a life outside of school. It was something that students just took for granted that they didn't have. Even for professors that they'd only had for a short time.

Harry remembered that he was supposed to be thinking of a plan to get rid of Tonks. Yes, a plan, that's what he needed. But what to do? Was there anything that he could do to get rid of an auror on his tail? No, probably not. But maybe, it would be possible to still do their research while letting Tonks believe that they were doing something else entirely.

Harry was contemplating on this string of thought while Tonks continued to talk about whatever seemed to come into her head in that particular moment. Then, Harry's brain picked out a few select words in her solo conversation that caught his attention. Something that had to do with "Ginny" and "missing." He wasn't sure if that meant missing, or missing him. Harry decided to listen to this part of the conversation in order to make sure that Ginny was still okay.

"Oh, I thought that would get you to actually listen."

"Oh, uh, I was listening."

"Harry, I'm not that stupid. I know that you were thinking of how to get rid of me. It won't work. I'm an Auror, even though I have pink hair and I'm only 23, the youngest Auror currently. You can't fool me."

_Much,_ was Harry's addition to that last sentence.

"About Ginny…" Harry asked.

"Oh, she just misses you like crazy. And she's mad at you at the same time. Quite an amusing situation, if you ask me."

For the remainder of the ride, Tonks continued to talk on her wild tangents while Harry once again seeped deep into his thoughts. Just past one, they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron. Stan Shunpike attempted to help Tonks get her bag out, temporarily ignoring Harry, much to the disgust of the independent Tonks. But she allowed him to carry her bag anyways.

After they managed to get their stuff into the lobby, Harry and Tonks went to get rooms to wait out the hours until they were meeting with the other two-thirds of the golden trio. As a last minute decision, Tonks talked Harry into sharing a room, in order to save money. For some reason, Harry felt rather uncomfortable about sharing a room with Tonks, but he saw the logic in it. However, he was rather unliking the idea of Tonks paying for the entire bill.

"Don't worry about it, Harry," Tonks explained. "It's the ministry's money."

Harry was much more inclined to the idea with the addition of that little detail.

Tonks went on, "We'll save the rest of our allowance to spend tomorrow. At the unknown place to which we're going."

He really appreciated the fact that Tonks was more of a kid than an adult, a detail that he would refrain from speaking out loud in case of angering her. Although, she might consider it as a compliment.

Harry began to carry his heavy luggage up to the room. Looking behind him, he saw Tonks magic her bag up before her. He began to contemplate doing the same, despite the fact that he was still considered an under aged wizard. He figured that now there wasn't much the Ministry could do to him as punishment. They couldn't exactly expel him from a non-existing school. Although, he figured that it would be best to not draw attention to himself at this point in time.

Once they were settled in, Tonks sat on the bed that Harry had clearly claimed as his own.

"Are you hungry, Harry? I'm starved. Maybe we should go downstairs and get some food," Tonks suggested. "Is it just me, or is it hot in here?" Tonks threw off her cloak, also onto Harry's bed.

Harry thought over both ideas, thinking it best not to eat the Leaky Cauldron food in an attempt to avoid being eaten by the pea soup. He also still had the sandwiches that he'd packed at the Dursleys. Luckily, he packed two, because he was hungry, too. And as to the other idea, Harry thought that it was rather hot in the building, too.

"Well, I have some sandwiches," Harry offered. "Its not much, but it'll hold us over until we can get some less toxic food."

"Yeah, that's good. What kind of sandwich and how many?"

"Uh, ham and two," Harry answered.

"Oh, ham, I guess I can just take that off."

"Are you a vegetarian?"

"Oh, no, I just haven't really been in the mood for pork or beef lately."

Harry rummaged through his trunk for the food and proceeded to sit on the bed beside Tonks, handing her a sandwich. While Tonks was taking off the ham and any remaining pieces, Harry observed that Tonks' favorite Weird Sister shirt was fitting her a little tighter than normal. He thought that maybe she had been eating a little much of Mrs. Weasley's home cooking. She could have changed it by her metamorphmagus powers to simply make her self back to the slim figure that she was. However, maybe she hadn't noticed.

After they finished their measly dinner, the two of them went to sleep in their respective beds.


	4. The Hall of Magical Records

Aloha! We bring to you another chapter in our story. We hope you enjoy it. And, just for fun, let's add that expected disclaimer. We are not JK Rowling because she would have written a much longer version than we have. And all of these characters so far are hers. Oh, and for the record, we are not schizophrenics. We are definitely two different people. A writer and a creator. As explained in previous chapters. Now, on to the story.

**Ch 4 - The Hall of Magical Records**

After finally convincing Tonks that it was time to get out of bed, (_Why didn't I just leave her? _Harry thought afterwards), they went downstairs to eat a large breakfast before going off to meet Ron and Hermione. They were already waiting rather impatiently outside of the twins' shop.

"I can't believe you, Harry!" Hermione scolded before Harry even reached them. "You left the Dursleys, you know that Professor Lupin told you to stay! You were safe there."

Harry ignored the comment, knowing that there was no comeback he could say to satisfy her.

"Uh… Harry? Why is Tonks with you?" Ron asked, mostly out of curiosity, partially to divert the topic in order to keep Harry from being scolded..

"Oh, she's the Auror that was assigned security the ministry's mascot, in other words, me." Harry said rather sarcastically.

Hermione seemed to like the idea of a trained escort, however, Ron was with Harry in thinking that it was a bad idea.

"Harry, how are we to get, uh… everything done without, uh… her telling the others?" Ron asked, trying to keep Tonks out of the conversation as much as possible.

Tonks supplied, "I think I'm going to "lose" Harry for three hours, and I think I'm going to "find" Harry again somewhere around here. I never saw anybody else with him. And if I don't find Harry around here in three hours, then I _will_ find him, and I might just make him go back to where he came from."

With that threat, Tonks gave Harry a menacing smile persuading him to follow orders just this once. Then she nodded to the three of them before turning around and walking off.

"Well, that solved that," Ron said cheerfully.

Hermione checked her watch before saying, "Ok, we need to be back here by 3:30. So, where exactly are we going?"

"Oh, I heard that there's some library of records around here somewhere. I figured that you'd be able to tell us where and what it was."

Hermione smiled a knowing smile before answering, "Of course. I've read all about it. It's the Hall of Magical Records and I can show you just where it is. Follow me."

And with that, they were off. After passing Gringotts Bank, Hermione led them to a part of Diagon Alley that they'd never been to. But, unlike Knockturn Alley, this area still contained a slight feeling of security. It was less crowded and much cleaner than the normal path. In the center of the street rested a giant, plain building with a simple plaque outside proclaiming it as the Hall of Magical Records.

"How much does it cost to get in?" Ron asked stupidly.

"You don't have to pay to get into a library!" Hermione said, offended by the idea.

"Well, how was I supposed to know that? And anyways, how _do_ you get in?"

"It's common sense, Ron. I've never been here before, but I assume that you just walk in."

Harry predicted that this could go on all day, so he began to drag them up the stairs to the library. They didn't stop arguing until they were inside the doors and Hermione whispered, "Shh! We're in a library!" getting a reproachful glare from Ron who nevertheless obeyed her.

They were greeted by a librarian at the front desk who told them to sign in, then she referred them to come to her if they had any questions. After they were a few feet away from her, Ron muttered:

"We won't need to ask her any questions."

"And why is that?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I'm sure that you know almost as much as she does about this place."

"Probably not," Hermione modestly said, despite being rather flattered by the compliment of sorts.

As they walked into the main part of the library, rows upon rows of books could be seen, stretching all the way up to the ceiling, and presumably doing the same on the other floors. Hermione was absolutely astounded by this place and looked as if she was perfectly at home, staring open-mouthed at the magnificence before her.

They quickly got started at their work. Their only goal for today was to discover the possibilities of who R.A.B. could be, or rather, to confirm who they thought he was. For two hours, they skimmed through books after books and only Hermione seemed to not be bored out of her mind with this task. Just after two, Hermione called their attention to a book that she'd found. It was one volume in a series of birth records of all the witches and wizards ever known to be born. She had grabbed the wrong volume for R.A.B., but now they knew where to search. So she went off to find them.

Since Hermione was no longer present to enforce their work, Harry and Ron began a conversation in an attempt to catch up on each others' lives and to ward off the boredom that threatened to consume them.

"So why did you leave the Dursleys?" Ron asked. "Were you having that bad of a summer?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry, mate. Mine's been going all right."

"Anything worth mentioning?"

"Plenty. Let's see…I went to see Charlie in Romania, I've been helping Bill with the wedding, I'm gonna be a groomsman, oh, and you are, too, Harry. I got to try out many of Fred and George's new products, some involuntarily, and I got a girlfriend—"

At this point, Harry stopped listening, remaining stuck on that last topic that Ron had tried to slip in without him noticing. Ron noticed that it hadn't worked by the shocked face that Harry was giving him.

"What…who….when….?" Harry stumbled.

"Yeah, I have a girlfriend. Hermione. It happened just after we got home for summer." Ron was blushing by this point, but he still had a sense of bragging in his voice that he had clearly tried to keep out.

Still shocked, Harry said, "I didn't really notice anything different about you two. You guys were still arguing like crazy."

Ron paused to think. "Yeah, there really isn't much that's different. Besides the fact that I'm now snogging her instead of Lavender."

"I didn't need to know that." Harry said, disgusted. "That's almost as bad as me saying –,"

"You can stop right there. I get the point," Ron interrupted. "I imagine that you and Ginny only talk when you're together. I don't need to know any different. An innocent mind is a happy one."

Harry laughed to himself before saying, "I'd like to keep it the same with you and Hermione."

"Deal."

Hermione appeared as if on cue, bringing with her a cart full of books. Apparently, the birth records of wizards were very thorough and went back quite a ways. For a while, the trio scanned the pile of books in order to confirm their beliefs. They found a possibility of three different people in the correct time period to whom the initials could refer to, one of whom was Regulus Atilius Black. Since the other people seemed quite unlikely, neither having been known to be Death Eaters, they were quickly able to rule them out. However, to verify their beliefs, they found some reference books with more information on him, such as his death date, the circumstances of his death, and his will if he had one.

They discovered that his death date was within the time period that they had estimated that the stealer of the locket would have died in. The cause of his death was recorded as murder, however the case was never resolved and it lay forgotten, most likely due to some bribing on Voldemort's part. The pieces all seemed to fit. All of the arrows pointed to Regulus Black as being the one who betrayed Voldemort. Harry's only thought was that Sirius would have been proud of his younger brother, defying the wishes of their parents in order to do some good in the world.

The next step in their research was to look at Regulus' will and find out where his things went to. It would lead them to where the locket was. However, there was no record of him ever having a will. Either he didn't predict his coming death (unlikely), or he had nobody in which to safely give his things. Presumably, without the existence of a will, his belongings would have remained at the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, now owned by Harry himself. That specific detail would make it easier to visit. However, it was the one place that he most dreaded going, and it was the one place that they most needed to go, for the locket, if still in existence, would be there. And if Regulus had gotten any more of the horcruxes, they would most likely be there, as well. They just had to hope that they were still there and hadn't been stolen by Mundungus or thrown away during their house cleaning.

At least they had accomplished their goal for the day and they now had somewhere to start in their search for the horcruxes. The trio discussed their findings for a while before Hermione began to write down their research.

After Hermione finished writing down their notes on what they'd discovered, she said, "I think that's all we'll be able to find for now. This _is_ the most extensive place to find records, they have just about everything ever written, record-wise. Maybe we can still look around a little more. How much time do we have left?"

She looked at her watch, before practically shrieking, "Oh no! We're going to be late!"

The three of them picked up their notes and quickly walked out the door before running down the street towards the twins' shop to meet Tonks. They arrived fifteen minutes late with a hyperventilating Harry that desperately did not want to go back to the Dursleys. However, Tonks was no where in sight.

"Where is she? She better not have gone off looking for us already. I won't let her send me back!" Harry protested.

At that moment, they heard a voice from behind say, "Wotcher, Harry!"

"Tonks!" Harry shouted as the three of them whipped around to see her. "We're here! I'm sorry we're late, but we lost track of time and—,"

"You're late?" Tonks interrupted, and then attempted to look at her watch while also balancing her two ice cream cones. "Oh, wow it is 3:15. I guess it took me longer than I thought it would to get the ice cream"

"What?" Harry almost screamed "You went to get ice cream?"

"Yeah, I got one for you, too, Harry. I would have gotten some for you two, as well, but, well… I only see Harry. Oh, I didn't really know what flavor you preferred so I just got you chocolate. I thought that would be safe. Everyone likes chocolate."

"So, you're not mad that we're late?" Harry asked, still attempting to regulate his breathing.

"No. Why would I be? You lost track of time. No big deal, I did too," she said cheerfully while handing Harry the ice cream that she had gotten him. "So, you ready to go Harry?"

"Uh, yeah…sure" Harry mumbled still shocked he wasn't in trouble and wasn't going back to the Dursleys. "See you later guys."

"Bye," Tonks said as she and Harry walked off, leaving Ron and Hermione just as confused as Harry.


	5. The Return

We hope you all enjoy this chapter, it's my favorite of those that we have out so far. However, Jewel seems to like Chapter 3 the most. Anyways, read, review, and be happy. I know that we will.

Disclaimer: **–**Insert witty "I'm not JK Rowling and I don't own these characters" remark here**–**

**Ch. 5 – The Return**

After leaving Ron and Hermione behind, Tonks and Harry spent some of their money on trivial items that would be looked over by the ministry officials approving the mission's allowance. They walked down Diagon Alley, always on the alert, and scanned the many shop windows for the remainder of the afternoon. That is, the few shops that remained open and functioning despite the terror-stricken wizarding population.

A few times they stopped into shops so Tonks could say "hi" to some of the many people that she happened to know. Harry supposed that being an Auror could make you well known. Or perhaps it was just because she came here often. Either way, Harry was still more popular, much to his own dismay. Of the few people wandering around Diagon Alley, almost everyone stopped and stared at Harry as he passed. He was beginning to like crowds for the sole fact that you could hide in them.

They stopped in to greet the twins and marveled at a few of their newest inventions. It was by far one of the more popular stores. Most likely because the onlypeople that would buy their items were those that could care less about Death Eaters on the loose, which just happened to be the only portion of society that was out and about at this present moment.

After Harry and Tonks had wandered around for a while and Harry had begun to feel like part of the wizarding community again after his weeks of isolation, they stopped in at a nice restaurant in which to relish in the ministry's money. Harry ate food of a quality like he hadn't had since the end of Hogwarts. He picked out some of his favorite foods, while Tonks ate foods devoid of meat. They both had desserts with content high in chocolate. Tonks couldn't help but mentioning Remus' love for chocolate at this point, and they both had a good laugh at his tendency of insisting that chocolate fixed everything.

As they were leaving the restaurant, Tonks looked at thelowering sun and suggested, "It's getting late. We should leave soon before we have search parties looking for us. Oh, and everyone's already been alerted that you left."

"How were they alerted?" Harry asked curiously.

"Well, I had to do something while I "lost" you. And I really didn't want Remus to be worried about me. Or you. Hmm. I guess I really should tell them that I've found you again. Oh well. Maybe the twins will get the message out."

"Uh… you said we needed to leave. Where exactly are we going?"

"Oh! I'm taking you to Grimmauld Place."

At the mentioning of his deceased godfather's house, (_Now my house_, Harry had to remind himself rather spookily), Harry cringed. He wasn't too thrilled about having to go back there.

"The Order took up the place as headquarters once more. Dumbledore had us reclaim it after ensuring that it had been correctly passed to you from Sirius and that the remaining Blacks did not pose a threat to it. And since Dumbledore's death, we've had to renew all of the wards, but they're all working again."

_Oh, wonderful, _Harry thought, _both Sirius and Dumbledore mentioned in the same sentence. Isn't this just a fun conversation?_

Harry remained pensive for the rest of the walk back to their room. He was about to return to the one place that he wanted most to avoid. And yet, here was just one more reason why he needed to go back. It seemed as if fate wouldn't let him be devoid of the memories that he tried so hard to suppress.

Tonks allowed him to be swallowed by his thoughts, for she had quite enough of them herself in which to be swept up in. Neither spoke a word until they reached the leaky cauldron and walked up to their room in order to begin packing up the few things they had taken out of their bags the previous night.

Tonks broke the silence, "Remus told me that once I found you, I was to take you to headquarters via the Knight Bus since it is, supposedly, the safest mode of travel other than apparating, which you can't quite do yet. Or, aren't allowed to do. But I've been on thatbloody bus for way too long and I really must say that there has to be some safer way to travel. I mean, even traveling by muggle transportation is safer than that. Unless, of course, the Knight Bus is on the same road as you. Then I wouldn't recommend it."

Harry laughed at that comment, knowing full well how insane the driver of the Knight Bus was.

"Anyways," Tonks continued, "I came up with a better mode of travel. How would you like to ride your broom a bit?"

Readily agreeing, a wide smile spread across Harry's face. He hadn't rode his broom since that last game in which he was violently hitten by a bludger from his own Keeper. A very unlikely occurrence that had no doubt scarred him mentally for life, considering that was most likely his last quidditch game ever. But he refused to think about that. Tonight, he'd get one more ride on his faithful Firebolt.

They checked out of the Leaky Cauldron and proceeded out into the Muggle side of the world. Harry reached into his trunk to pull out his broom, looking up just in time to witness Tonks' Comet 260 appear out of thin air.

In answer to his inquiring gaze, Tonks explained, "It's quite a useful bit of magic. Much quicker and more inconspicuous than _accio_, which sends things flying all over the place. Especially when you've never quite mastered it. Anyways, maybe I can teachthis to you some time, once you're of age, of course. Now, shall we go? It's not too far from here and I can lead the way."

Harry nodded his head in response, overlooking Tonks' inability to perform certain simple spells and looking forward to being able to learn some useful magic sometime in his future. Tonks attached their things to her broom, then they mounted their brooms and took off into the sky, Harry's heart soaring higher than it had in quite a long time. There was nothing like a nice broom ride in the night sky to wipe away all bad emotions.

It wasn't long before they began their decsent and landed unnoticed in the patch of grass in front of where Grimmauld place remained invisible to all unwanted eyes. Once they had landed, Tonks caused her broom to disappear into oblivion once again, before turning to Harry and saying quietly:

"I would have used a disillusionment charm on you, but in all likelihood, it would have been more dangerous than for you to walk unarmed into a circle of Death Eaters with Voldemort at its head."

Harry laughed a bit before giving an involuntary shudder at the thought of being found defenseless against so many people that wanted him dead. Apparently, Tonkshadn;t noticed his reactionbecause she began to lead the way up to the doorstep that had suddenly appeared between houses 11 and 13. Harry reluctantly followed, unwilling to bring back hidden memories, yet knowing that he had to face his fears sooner rather than later.

Opening the door, Tonks beckoned Harry to precede her in going in.Since the place was currently used as headquarters, there would most likely be nobody to harm them waiting inside, however, the outside of their little zone of protection was a different matter entirely. Tonks was required to check behind them for followers. After she scanned the front perimeter, she cheerfully walked inside, closing the door behind her.

"It's great to be back again," Tonks commented.

Harry, however, had to disagree. With the events of this night so similar to those of when he first set foot in here, he half expected to see Sirius running out of the kitchen door to greet them, or rather to silence the portrait of his mother, although Harry knew that would never happen. Unbidded, a torrent of memories overwhelmed him and he seemed magically glued to the spot as image after image flashed quickly before his eyes. Eventually, he suppressed his visions and attempted to attach a normal expression to his face.

After getting past the slight setback of having so many wonderful and yet torturous memories here, Harry was able to appreciate the emotion that this house, his house, radiated. It was a feeling of belonging. A feeling that this place could be a home, although it still lacked the level of warmth that the Weasley house attained.

While Harry had been swept up in his thoughts, Tonks managed to successfully put her cloak on the coat rack without even knocking it over once. She was quite proud of her achievement. She currently remained rooted to the spot, smiling with superiority at the stand, as if she had conquered some dangerous being of evil purpose. After a few seconds of gloating at her achievement over the inanimate coat rack, Tonks reluctantly moved on to more pressing matters.

"At this time of night," Tonks whispered to Harry in order to avoid waking the portraits, "I'm guessing that most everyone is asleep, although there may still be a few people down in the kitchen. But before we go down there, we should figure out where you'll be staying."

She continued, "Most every room is taken right now, we have quite an assembly of people. Let's see…the room that Buckbeak and Sirius used to stay in is still completely empty. Oh, and I'm not sure if there's any more room with Ron, he may be sharing with one of his brothers. Hermione isn't staying here right now, although she does pop in every once in a while. I guess that leaves an empty bed in Ginny's room, but it's not a very comfortable one. Then there's always the couch in the sitting room, but there's no telling what's still living in that thing. You know, I could always sleep with Ginny and you could have my room, Harry."

"Oh, no, really, Tonks, that's ok. You can keep your room. I don't mind sleeping on the extra bed in Ginny's room."

"Well, that's really nice of you, Harry. Are you sure?"

Harry was surprised that Tonks would overlook the minor detail of Harry and Ginny being in the same age range and being members of the opposite gender that have had a certain relationship before. Also, it rather shocked him that Tonks ignored the fact that Harry just suggestedthe two teenagersstay in the same room unsupervised. He was beginning to think that Tonks might be extremely exhausted. Or maybe delirious.

"Oh, yeah, I don't mind," Harry readily agreed.

"Ok, well—"

But at that moment, the front door slowly and silently opened, and Harry and Tonks' conversation was cut to an abrupt halt. Harry turned immediately turned around to face the doorway, grabbing a hold of his wand but not yet removing it from his pocket, in case it was a member of the Order. He'd hate to have Moody hex him for pointing his wand in that general direction.

Through the open doorway, Harry could see the outline of a person in wizard's robes standing a ways from the door, but it was too dark to make out a face. They were dressed completely in black and blended in perfectly with the shadows of the night.

The intruder began to walk inside with a purposeful gait that Harry was able to recognize immediately. He remained frozen in shock for a moment while his mind attempted to register the bewildering scenario.

Then there was the whooshing of a cloak as the person that Harry loathed more than anything in the world emerged into the dim candlelight of the hallway, a look of pure hatred on his pallid face.

There stood Severus Snape, his wand at the ready.


	6. First Meetings

Alas, another addition to our lovely fanfic. This is a pretty good chapter, so I hope you enjoy it. And please, if you can, review. It not only adds to our happiness, but it also gives us input on how to improve the story. So, read, review, and be happy.

Disclaimer: We own nothing in this story except for the one lovely character that we have added in ourselves. And we are not JK Rowling. Do we look like JK Rowling? I didn't think so.

**Last Chapter:**

Through the open doorway, Harry could see the outline of a person in wizard's robes standing a ways from the door, but it was too dark to make out a face. They were dressed completely in black and blended in perfectly with the shadows of the night.

Then there was the whooshing of a cloak as the person that Harry loathed more than anything in the world emerged into the dim candlelight of the hallway, a look of pure hatred on his pallid face.

There stood Severus Snape, his wand at the ready.

**Ch 6 – First Meetings**

"You!" Harry shouted, his face a mask of pain and rage.

With the utterance of that single accusing word, Harry lunged himself at Snape, forgetting in his rage that he had previously had his hand on his the wand that now remained forgotten in his pocket. A red haze blinded his vision, and before Snape could react to the attack, Harry had already slugged his former professor quite a few times.

Harry knocked Snape's wand out of his hands as he continued his attempts to release his rage toward this hated person that had just barged into _his_ home without permission. How dare this perpetrator of violence and death waltz into a place so calm and peaceful? Harry fully intended to make him regret his decision of appearing within the same vicinity as the Boy-Who-Lived.

However, the one-sided fight lasted only a few seconds before Harry felt some unknown force pulling him backwards, away from his target. As his senses began to come back to him, Harry noted with some satisfaction that Snape had a bloodied nose and a quickly blackening eye.

Looking behind him to find out who had so unceremoniously dragged him away from accomplishing one of the few goals he had in life, Harry noticed Lupin holding tightly onto his shoulders. Then, his range of vision extended until it was no longer focused on one specific point through rage, and he noticed that the rest of the room was filled with various people that had no doubtedly been in the kitchen only a few minutes before.

Tonks stood just behind Lupin, watching the goings-on quite amusingly, as if she had had no intention of stopping the fight herself. Mr. Weasley was standing in the doorway to the kitchen and Mrs. Weasley was still coming up the stairs behind him. Evidently, Lupin's increased hearing abilities had alerted him to the events going on just upstairs and his extended werewolf reflexes had allowed him to quickly pull Harry off of Snape before Harry became badly injured.

It took Harry only a few seconds to notice all of this, and then he realized that something was wrong. Why hadn't all of these experienced wizards attacked Snape yet? They knew he was here, they knew who he was, and they knew what he had done. Why were they just allowing him to stand there, calmly wiping the blood from his face?

Lupin seemed to have recognized Harry's confusion, because he began to speak. "Harry there's something you should know. Severus is on our side."

"He's WHAT?" shocked, Harry began to sink back into his bubble of rage again. "How can you say that he's on our side? He… He killed… HE KILLED DUMBLEDORE! How can you still trust him?"

Harry glared angrily at Snape, whose own glare perfectly matched that of Harry's. Although, Snape had made no move to fix his bloody and bruised face, respecting Harry's distrust and refraining from retrieving his wand and startling Harry. No matter how much he might want to do that, he needed Harry to believe him.

Remus Lupin attempted to pacify Harry, telling him, "We have sufficient proof that he is on our side and always has been."

"Don't tell me about 'sufficient proof'!" Harry retorted. "Dumbledore said he had sufficient proof, too, but look where he is now!"

"Harry, if you can't trust Snape, then trust us. We have proof. Believe me when I say that. All will be explained soon. But right now, we have something more important to deal with."

When it looked as if Harry was about to burst out again, Lupin merely raised his hand to silence Harry, and gave him a look that clearly told him to be patient. However much Harry wanted to hate Snape, he had to believe Lupin. He had never yet done him harm, and he knew that Lupin would never purposefully bring harm to his best friend's son.

Once Remus was satisfied that Harry would remain silent, he began to move on to the more pressing matter of the night. However, Tonks beat him to it.

"So, did you find it?" Tonks asked Snape, continuing to ignore that he was injured.

"Yes, of course. I left it outside," Snape answered curtly as he retrieved his dropped wand, before walking back out of the door. They heard his muffled voice say something from outside. "Get down here!"

Harry was extremely puzzled with this remark. The small crowd that had gathered in the hallway moved outside to see what the confusion was all about.

Snape was staring upwards, facing towards the house with contained hatred that was visible in all of his stiff movements. Harry followed his gaze and was astounded at what he saw. On top of the awning above the door, was a person. However, all that could be seen of that person was an outline, due to their aptitude at blending in with the darkness around them. From what he could tell, the person was sitting on the edge of the roof, swinging their legs joyfully over the side.

"What's it doing up there?" Tonks asked curiously.

"I don't know!" Snape snapped at her. "I left it out here, and now it's up there! GET DOWN HERE NOW!"

"Yes, sir, Mr. Grumpy," the figure replied in a mocking tone and a rather strange accent, before jumping down from the roof and landing perfectly on the ground in front of their group.

It was still too dark to discern the figure standing before them, however, and judging by the voice, Harry guessed that 'it' was a girl. Snape was fuming at it, though, and he thoroughly expressed his opinions at it.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley walked back inside, followed closely by Remus and Tonks. Not wanting to be left outside with and angry Snape, Harry quickly followed them in, as well. Once inside the door, however, he let his curiosity get the better of him. He turned around to peer out of the door, and proceeded to watch the conversation before him.

"I expected you to get down in a safer way that wouldn't endanger your 'precious'—" he said that little bit with an ugly sneer, "life that has been so ungratefully put into my hands."

"Then you should have been more specific in your orders," And with that, the person turned her back on Snape, walked through the door, and brushed past Harry in order to follow the others into the kitchen.

Realizing that the only one left to come through the door was Snape, Harry ran to catch up with the rest and meet them in the kitchen before he could be caught alone with his hated ex-professor.

Once inside the kitchen, he found everybody sitting around the table, except for the stranger, who was leaning against the wall near the door, and staring curiously at the group before her. Harry sat down on the bench next to Lupin, on the side that was not occupied by Tonks. On Harry's other side was Mrs. Weasley who gave him a brief but strong hug as a way of greeting. Looking to Mr. Weasley, Harry received a smile. Upon looking at Lupin and Tonks, Harry had to quickly avert his eyes in order to prevent himself from throwing up. Tonks was currently giving Remus a passionate kiss as her way of greeting him.

At once, Harry regretted having sat next to Lupin. This was worse than the mere thought of Ron and Hermione snogging. This was real. And this was one of his guardians and one of his former professors. It just wasn't right. In order to distract himself from the couple sitting beside him, Harry looked at the one person that, so far, he had refrained from looking at .

By the light in the kitchen, Harry could now see that the stranger referred to as 'it' was a girl around his age, dressed completely in black. To tell the truth, her appearance was quite creepy. She had on a black tank top with claw marks ripped through it and fishnet sleeves to complete the top. She had a short, black skirt on with fishnet stockings and tall, black boots with buckles adorning the sides. Her hair was a color of black that could not be achieved naturally and it was pulled back in long, choppy pig-tails with shorter pieces of hair left out in order to frame her angled face and dark, greenish-brownish eyes.

Unaware of his breach of manners, Harry continued to stare, shocked, at this new addition into their household. He had never before seen anyone that looked so… strange. It was quite astounding.

The girl may have noticed his staring, or she may not have, but she continued to stare blankly around the room, waiting to see what happened next.

Snape came bursting into the kitchen, clearly angry at the uncooroperativeness of his charge. She looked up abruptly as he came in.

"Hah! What happened to you?" She laughed as she noticed the injuries he had sustained while being beaten by Harry.

"It's none of your business."

"Awww. But I wanted to congratulate whoever did that to you. They've achieved something that I've been trying to do for hours now."

Harry felt like saying, "Yeah, I've been trying to do that for years now, it's not an opportunity you get often," however, he was able to hold his tongue for a change. Although, he did seem to have a newfound respect for this strange girl.

At that moment, the door opened once more, to emit three people that showed no signs once so ever of having been or having tried to be asleep. Apparently, they had been eagerly awaiting Harry's arrival. It was Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.

"Harry!" Hermione shouted gleefully, running over to give him a friendly hug before sitting down beside him.

Ron jovially clapped him on the back, while Harry noticed that Ginny was clearly struggling with herself as to how to greet him. He could tell that she really wanted to greet him warmly, however, she thought the better of it with her parents in the same room. So she degraded herself to just giving him a big smile and squeezing her way in-between him and Lupin, giving herself an excuse to sit closer to Harry than would be normally accepted. Ron had sat down on the other side of Hermione.

Upon taking their places at the table, the new additions to the group suddenly realized the stranger in their midst.

"Blimey!" said a startled Ron, "Who's that?"

Snape was the first to answer, and having been her personal guard, he was given the right to introduce her.

"This is Dylan Dumbledore."


	7. Explanations

This chapter's a long one, so bear with us. But it's really good, and it has a lot of information.

Disclaimer: By no astounding miracle have we been magically made into JK Rowling, nor has she suddenly died and left us with the priveledge of continuing on the Harry Potter series. And no, we don't own any of this lovely Harry Potter stuff except for Dylan. (And for all of you now searching the web, trying to make sure that JK Rowling didn't die, don't worry, she's still quite alive. Fortunately.)

**Last Chapter:**

"Blimey!" said a startled Ron, "Who's that?"

Snape was the first to answer, and having been her personal guard, he was given the right to introduce her.

"This is Dylan Dumbledore."

**Ch. 7 – Explanations**

"Hi!" she said cheerfully while the previously uninformed kids remained silent due to their shock.

"Wait a moment…" Harry paused to gather his thoughts, "does that mean… is she… Is that Dumbledore's daughter?"

"Yes."

"The one and only!" Dylan added with a large smile.

"I didn't know Dumbledore had a child!" Hermione said at once.

"Wow, you found something that Hermione didn't know," Ron added into the conversation, causing Hermione to blush slightly.

"Ok," Harry demanded, "we need a serious amount of explaining here."

Lupin laughed a little, before saying, "Be patient, Harry. How about we have some nice hot chocolate while we discuss this?"

Everyone seemed to agree, and so Remus got up to make it himself, ignoring Mrs. Weasley's offer to make it. Tonks followed him in getting up, however, he rejected her offer of help, too, saying that she'd probably cause the kitchen to catch fire if she did help. Pouting, Tonks sat back down in her previous spot.

Eyeing those that remained standing, namely Snape and Dylan, Mrs. Weasley asked them to sit. Grudgingly, Snape sat down at the head of the table with a disgusted look on his face. He would have promptly left except for the fact that he had been ordered to keep an eye on Dylan at all times, until the order was revoked.

Dylan immediately took the offer to sit, gracefully falling to the ground and sitting cross-legged. She seemed to have compensated for wearing a skirt by wearing neon-pink shorts underneath it, allowing her to freely sit cross-legged.

Remus handed out the hot chocolate before sitting down opposite Harry.

"Now, Harry, what questions do you have?"

"First, I want to know why Snape is suddenly on our side, _again_," Harry said, glaring at Snape.

"Well, shortly after Dumbledore's funeral, the Order was patrolling Hogwarts, on Headmistress McGonagall's orders, to verify that it was still secure and to replace all of the protection spells that had been broken. That is what I was doing when Minerva asked me to come to her office. Apparently, Dumbledore's portrait had woken up. And he wanted to talk to us."

Harry recalled the night of his death, when a new portrait had appeared in the headmaster's office, depicting Dumbledore sleeping.

"He informed us of information that had been withheld before his death. Namely, the fact that Snape had acted on Dumbledore's orders in killing him and the fact that he had a daughter, but we'll get to that in a moment."

"But why would he want to die? And why are you trusting a picture in a frame?"

"The pictures of the headmasters of Hogwarts are not ordinary pictures," Mr. Weasley offered his input. "They are gifted with the memories and knowledge of the person which they are modeled after."

"Yes, exactly," Lupin agreed. "And as to Dumbledore wanting to die, apparently, Severus here had been forced to enter into an Unbreakable Vow." Lupin looked to Snape, inviting him to explain from here.

Snape explained, "The Dark Lord had given Draco Malfoy the mission of killing Dumbledore, as I'm sure you know. It was impossible for him to accomplish. Draco is still good in his heart, in some forlorn portion of it. Draco's mother came to me, begging that I complete the mission if Draco could not. I could not escape the Vow if I was to remain spy for the Order.

"Dumbledore had warned me to do whatever, kill whomever, was necessary in order to remain a spy. So, regretfully, I entered into the pact. Immediately, I informed Dumbledore of what had transpired. He agreed with the decision I had made, and we decided not to tell anyone of what I knew I had to do.

"Knowing that I would not be able to return as a professor the next year due to the mission I would most likely be forced to complete, Dumbledore gratefully gave me the position as professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, knowing that there was, indeed, a curse upon it by the Dark Lord himself, ensuring that anyone in that position would last no longer than a year. So I finally got my dream job, but not for long.

"I attempted to discover what Draco was planning, to no avail. He was adamant about doing this mission solo. Throughout the year, I continued to spy on the Dark Lord for Dumbledore, while leading the Dark Lord to believe that I was spying on the Order. Many times, I felt that I would not be able to succeed at this mission set before me by Dumbledore. However, he refused to let me back out and face my own death rather than his.

"So on the night of Dumbledore's death, you may remember that Dumbledore was pleading with me, and I know that you witnessed it, Potter. He was not pleading with me for his life, but pleading that I take his life. So I did."

At this statement, a look of sheer terror and revulsion spread across Snape's face. And despite how much Harry loathed Snape, he was actually beginning to believe this story. Either Snape had a way with words (which he knew to be true), or he was actually telling the truth. Or maybe both. Harry still remained suspicious, however.

Snape continued, "You may also remember, Potter, that I protected you from the attacks of the Death Eaters while you attempted to pursue me. Although, it may not have been obvious that I was protecting you. Luckily, I have mastered the ability to be obscure in my intentions.

"My actions brought me into the very innermost circle of the Dark Lord's Death Eaters. Closer than I ever was before. Now, I am his right hand man. According to him, anyone that could have killed Dumbledore is worth having right by his side. I have been able to get priceless information for the Order now that I'm in this highly-valued position."

"Yes," Lupin affirmed this story, "we have been able to stop quite a few devastating Death Eater attacks before they occur due to the information we receive through Severus."

"But how can you be sure that he's telling the truth?" Harry asked, still trying to find a way to accuse Snape. "As he just said, he's good at hiding his intents. And telling lies."

"Because, Harry," Lupin more thoroughly explained, "Dumbledore's portrait matched exactly with his story. Dumbledore himself, in portrait form, confirmed it."

"But what if Snape magicked the portrait?"

"And when would he have been able to do that? The portrait appeared after he disappeared. There was no way he could have tampered with it. Besides, he would have had a right time attempting to get in the headmaster's office, let alone messing around with the portraits. Believe me, Harry, when I say that we can trust him."

Harry cast a suspicious glance at Snape before settling his gaze on Lupin who was giving him a reassuring look. Stiffly, Harry nodded his head in consent.

"Good. Now, I think we need to do some explaining about Dylan. This was the other topic that Dumbledore's portrait informed us of. Apparently, he had an illegitimate daughter in America that he had told nobody about, in order to keep her well protected. However, after his death, he thought it dangerous for her to remain alone and unprotected, so he told us to send someone to retrieve her and bring her here to keep under our protective watch. But this is all that we know of her. For the details, we need Dylan."

Lupin cast his vision to Dylan, who was sitting on the floor playing with her shoe buckles. Bobbing her head up and down slightly, she did not respond to her own name.

"Dylan?"

No response.

"Dylan, would you care to join us?"

No response.

Harry looked over at her, and began to wonder why she was bobbing her head up and down. Was she mentally ill? But then, Harry realized the reason. He thought he could see something in the palm of her hand.

Standing up from the table, Harry walked over to where she was sitting and proceeded to pry that something out of her hand. She put up quite a fight before he could get it away from her.

Dylan pulled the headphones out of her ears, and shouted, "Hey! What was that for? I was listening to a good song!"

Harry showed the device to those sitting at the table, telling them, "It's an iPod. An electronic muggle device that plays songs."

Dylan looked at him as if he'd gone crazy, explaining such a simple thing that everyone should know.

In response to her look, Harry explained to her, "I don't know about America, but here, wizards don't use electronic devices. They ignore all signs of muggle existence. Or, they try to."

Dylan gave him an even more bewildered look, but shrugged her shoulders in acceptance. After admiring her iPod for a few seconds, Harry grudgingly gave it back and proceeded to sit back down at the table.

"Now, back to where we were," Lupin redirected the conversation to its previous topic. "We don't know any of the details concerning you, Dylan, so we need you to explain those."

"Um… ok, but I don't know all of them myself," Dylan stammered.

"That's all right, just tell us what you do know. From that, maybe we can figure out the rest."

"Well… umm… I guess I should start at the beginning."

"That might help."

"Well, my father, Albus Dumbledore, was in the United States, specifically New York, for some job or another, when he met my mother, Candy Davis. I don't know much of what happened there, but they were together for a week before my father told my mother that he was leaving in the morning, but he couldn't explain why. Although, my mother, being the person she was, refused to accept that. She demanded an explanation and he gave it to her. She was told of magical, mystical worlds and she was allowed to know of things that were hidden to most. But given the circumstances, they decided it best to end their relationship."

Dylan self-consciously scanned the room to find all eyes focused on her. It was a story that had never been told in the wizarding world and that only these people would ever know of for quite some time to come.

Continuing her story, Dylan said, "Shortly after my father left America, my mom found out that she was pregnant with me. She attempted to find my father, but instead, he found her. Apparently, he was already aware of why she was trying to find him. My mother gave him the opportunity to be involved in my life, and, of course, he accepted. Later that day, he proposed to my mother, but she declined due to the differences between their worlds. So, my father settled for seeing me periodically, but he had to abide by my mother's rules. Namely, that I was not to learn about the magical world until I was to go to Hogwarts, a matter that my mother reluctantly agreed to."

At this point, Ginny decided to add to the conversation. "But why didn't you go to Hogwarts? I mean, you didn't, did you? I don't remember having ever seen you before. And you would have been in one of our years."

"I was just getting to that!" Dylan answered. "No, I didn't go, and I don't know what year I would have been in."

"Well, when's your birthday, and how old will you be?"

"It was June 16th, and I just turned 16."

"You would have been in my year!"

"Oh, um, ok. Anyways, I didn't go to Hogwarts that first year because my father said it wasn't safe for me to enter into the wizarding world at that time, due to some recent event of some sort. And every year after that, he came up with the same excuse: it was too dangerous because of something that happened that he would refuse to explain."

Harry thought back to think of what would have happened that was dangerous around the time of her first year. Then, he blushed slightly as he realized that it was his battle with Voldemort himself for the Sorcerer's Stone. And the year after that was also his doing, the Chamber of Secrets. Then there was the escaped mass murderer known as Harry's godfather, the Triwizard Tournament, the return of Voldemort, Voldemort attacking the ministry, and finally, Dumbledore's death. She never even had a chance with this unfortunate group of people at Hogwarts. Harry assumed that the rest of their little group was also thinking about these events, because they were all blushing, as well, having each taken part in some event or another.

Dylan was still talking, "Eventually, my father began seeing me less and less often, giving me stupid excuses like, 'I'm working on something major, right now, Lemon Drop, I'm sorry, I can't take you this weekend,' and he just kept using the same excuses. I stopped believing them after a while, I mean, how many times did he think I was going to buy them? I'm not stupid! He just didn't want me to be at his school and risk me letting something slip about who I am, ultimately destroying his reputation. And I guess he just didn't want me in his life anymore."

Harry felt extremely guilty for some reason, as if he had taken her father away from her. In a way, he had.

"But my father did send my mother and me money on a monthly basis, but it was wizarding money, and we had no way to exchange it for real money, so it did us no good. But we never told him, because it was the only way he felt he could help. We didn't want to hurt him.

"When I was thirteen, he became my one and only parent. My mom died from a brain tumor. And no matter how hard my father had tried to persuade her to let him use magical means to fix it, she refused. She died in her sleep with no pain or suffering."

When Dylan finished her sentence, she had grown very quiet and her eyes had begun to brim with held back tears. However, years of dealing with her emotions had given her the ability to fight back the temporarily overwhelming sadness.

Nobody said anything, figuring it to be rather strange to say 'sorry' for an instance where nothing more could have been done. However, everyone gave Dylan sympathetic looks that she had gotten much too used to throughout the more recent years of her life.

Dylan continued with a strong voice once more. "Considering that my father didn't seem to have much time for me anymore, I supported myself. He sent money weekly now, but I just kept stashing it with the rest of the strange coins that he'd sent us throughout my life. I was able to get a job and I found a nice, little apartment. And ever since then, I've managed to support my self and live a fairly average life. That is, however, until I came home one day to find this lunatic in my apartment."

Dylan gave Snape a death glare before continuing her story.

"He told me that my father had died and that I was supposed to go with him to some unknown safe place that was supposedly better than my home in New York. Of course, I told him to prove it, and I headed towards the phone in order to call the cops on him. But he pulled out a Chocolate Frog. That was my father's signal telling me that the person was sent by him. Then, when I opened it to verify that it was my father's card inside (another part of the signal), I noticed something strange about it. It was just like all of the other cards my father had sent me; however, this card had a death date. My father's death date. That's when I truly began to believe this madman sitting over here."

Snape seemed able to overlook her name calling, although only just barely. Harry could see a vein twitching in his temple.

"So," Dylan continued, "I packed as much as I could in the extremely short amount of time that he gave me before he forced me to leave to God-knows-where. And better yet, I discovered that I was being taken there by the very same idiot who killed my father!"

Apparently, Dylan had reserved her very worst death glare for this particular moment, because Snape got the full blow of it now.

Attempting to apologize, Snape said, "I'm sorry, but I had to—"

"You're not sorry! If you were sorry, you'd have been nicer to me. Like letting me sleep, or giving me time to pack all of my prized possessions, or letting me eat, or at least letting me bring Salazar!"

"Oh, well, your Highness, I'm so sorry that the world doesn't work the way you want it to. I told you that you couldn't sleep because then you would have fallen off of your broom into the Atlantic Ocean! And it took so long because we had to fly, and generally, that takes time. We did just fly over half of the expanse of the world. And in order to get here by a reasonable hour, we couldn't stop at some unknown island in the middle of the ocean and sit down to have a nice cup of tea."

"You didn't feed her?" Molly asked, outraged at the idea of a hungry child.

"There was no time," said Snape while Molly got up to begin fixing some food for the hungry Dylan. Snape continued his ranting, "There was no time for packing all of her_ Highness' _things, of which she has way too many, no time for granting her _Highness_' whining for sleep or food, and no time for figuring out how to transport the thing she calls a pet."

"He's not just a pet!" Dylan retorted. "Salazar's very important! Daddy gave him to me."

Harry's curiosity got the better of him. "You have a pet named Salazar? As in Salazar _Slytherin_?"

"Yes, I named my dog Salazar. Is that a problem?"

"No, I guess not. I just want to know why."

"Well, daddy seemed to like the name."

"Yeah, I'm sure he did," Ron said, fighting back a laugh.

Mrs. Weasley sat a plate at an empty spot on the table and beckoned for Dylan to come there. Reluctantly, Dylan got up to tenaciously sit down at the table full of people that she didn't know.

"Now there you go, dear," Mrs. Weasley said kindly. "Tuck in, and there's more if you're still hungry."

"Thanks!"

"You're very welcome."

Curious, Ginny had to ask, "How did you survive on your own for so long?"

Answering between the bites of food that Dylan was so persistently shoving into her mouth, she said, "I dunno, I just did. I had no other choice, did I?"

Lupin asked, "Why didn't your father send you to live with someone he knew that would take care of you?"  
"Everyone he knew lived in the wizarding world, and he wanted me to have nothing to do with the wizarding world, believing me to be safer in New York on my own." Dylan laughed before continuing, "But he did have people check up on me time to time, and I'm sure he watched me through some magical means."

Now feeling that she could ask questions, Tonks asked, "Hey, where did you get those shoes? They're really awesome!"

"Yeah," Ginny added, "And you're skirt, it's really cute."

Hermione rolled her eyes at the tendency they had to get off topic so easily, and their ability to change the topic from an important one, to clothes.

"Thank you!" Dylan said happily, "I think I got them from Hot Topic."

"Do you know any magic?" Lupin brought the discussion back to the topic at hand.

"No, not really. My father never taught me how to use my wand. He only taught me how to use my "natural" magical abilities," Dylan actually used air quotes at that point.

"And those are…?"

"Well, I can read minds and predict the future to a point."

Everyone seemed to be very shocked with these abilities.

"Can you control them to a good extent?"

"Uh huh," she answered, continuing to shove food into her mouth at a rapid pace. "Oi ve!" Dylan said as her drink tipped over and spilled all over the table.

Mrs. Weasley abruptly cleaned up the mess and proceeded to get Dylan a new drink.

"Hey," Ron said with a sudden thought, "can you read my mind?"

Lupin interrupted, "We can play around with her abilities later. I think now is a good time for everybody to go to bed. It is rather late."

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea," Mrs. Weasley agreed. "Dylan, dear, you can sleep in Ginny's room."

"Um, ok, but who's Ginny?"

"Oh, how rude of us! You don't know anyone here, do you?"

"Just that idiot over there," Dylan answered, pointing in Snape's general direction.

"Well, let's fix that."

Mrs. Weasley went down the table introducing everyone to Dylan, saying their name and a brief description of who they are. Then, she went on to discuss the room arrangements, making it very clear that none of the known couples were to share the same room. Everyone went up to go to their rooms, except for Harry, Lupin, Snape, and Tonks, who was there just because Remus was.

The three of them, Tonks excluded, went into detail discussing some of the finer points of Snape's allegiance to the Order. Mostly, it was Harry interrogating Snape, attempting to prove that he was lying, of which he failed to prove.

Sometime later, Snape left to go to sleep, leaving Harry and Lupin remaining with Tonks asleep on the kitchen floor, where she had been unnoticed for quite some time.

Harry was lectured on how he shouldn't have left the Dursleys, until finally, the discussion took a turn for the better. Or so Harry thought. The conversation had turned towards discussing Tonks and Remus' current relationship.

"So, are you two dating?" Harry asked reluctantly, attempting to avoid another lecture.

"I guess you could say that," Lupin said, not exactly wanting to be discussing this with Harry.

"You really are happy now, aren't you?"

"I guess."

"You guess?" Harry asked, concerned about his mentor.

"Well, I'm really happy with my life right now and with Tonks, but I feel guilty that the rest of the world is in turmoil when I've finally found a happy spot in life."

"Don't feel bad, you of all people deserve to be happy."

Both were silent for a minute before Lupin said, "You can have the sofa where Tonks was going to sleep."

Looking at Tonks sleeping on the kitchen floor, Harry felt compelled to ask, "You're just going to leave her there on the floor?"

"Oh, no, I just thought that, uh, she could sleep in my room," Lupin said, not exactly wanting to be saying that to Harry.

Harry didn't exactly want to be hearing that, either. He wasn't sure what to do, so he just stood there while Remus attempted to wake up the unenthusiastic and exhausted Tonks, proceeding to help her up to _his_ room. Hopefully, Harry thought, just to go to sleep.

Harry proceeded to grab a blanket and attempt to fall asleep on the uncomfortable sofa.


	8. New Relationships and Old Feelings

We're so very sorry about the wait, but life has been hectic with school lately. And we have the next 2 chapters almost ready, so hopefully those will be out soon. So, we're sorry, but we hope you enjoy this one. It's been a while in the making. 

Disclaimer: We are not in the possession of any of these characters except for our very own Dylan. Now pretend that you enjoyed reading this disclaimer.

**Ch. 8 – New Relationships and Old Feelings**

Harry woke up in the morning to the smell of freshly cooked ham and bacon. Apparently, Mrs. Weasley had cooked a breakfast consisting of a wide variety of foods. Exhausted as he was, Harry contemplated falling back to sleep, however, at that moment, the door to the living room opened.

"Oh, good, you're already up, dear," Mrs. Weasley said. "I'll let you get ready, then why don't you come have some breakfast?"

"Sure, thanks," Harry mumbled, still half asleep.

Mrs. Weasley left the room while Harry fumbled around for his glasses. Once the world slid into focus, he got up to get dressed. As he did so, he almost stepped on an object that he couldn't remember being there the night before. Upon close inspection, it seemed to be some product from the twins' shop. Being careful not to touch it, or to even get near it, Harry made him self somewhat presentable to society.

Finally, he walked out into the hall to find the downstairs bathroom. As he did so, he passed the staircase and noticed that there were marbles carefully placed all along many of the steps. It appeared as if somebody was trying to catch others off guard and make some people fall down the stairs. All of the evidence pointed to the assumption that Fred and George were in the building.

On his way back from the bathroom, Harry passed by the stairs again. Just before he headed into the kitchen, Harry noticed that Tonks was about to come down the stairs and Dylan was right behind her. Tonks had just taken a step forward when Dylan suddenly grabbed a hold of her arm to hold her back.

"Stay here," Dylan directed, heading down the stairs before her, gracefully avoiding the marbles and picking them up as she went.

Tonks stared at her, shocked, for a second, before saying, "Did you—"

"Yeah, I saw it happening," Dylan replied before the question could be asked.

"But what would have—"

"You really don't want to know."

"But, do you—"

"Yes, I know."

"And will you—"

"No, I won't."

"Ok, well, uh, thanks."

Dylan nodded her head, before heading down to the kitchen. Harry followed shortly after, noticing that Tonks was still at the top of the stairs, staring down them in a state of pure terror.

As soon as Harry entered the kitchen, his theory about the twins was confirmed.

"Heya, Harry!" Fred, or whom Harry thought was Fred, said cheerfully.

"How have you been?" George asked directly after Fred.

"Um…ok, I guess."

"Good!" was the simultaneous answer from the identical faces before him.

Harry sat down directly across from Dylan and began to shovel food onto his plate. He was so absorbed in his food that he barely noticed when everybody else came in. It wasn't until he stopped to take a drink of his juice that he noticed that Ron and Hermione were sitting beside him and Tonks was just sitting down next to Dylan.

Everyone went off into their own separate discussions, so nobody noticed that Tonks was looking a little pale and nobody heard her ask if someone could move the ham that was sitting directly in front of her.

However, they did notice when she suddenly said, "Hey, did you guys hear that? I think I'll go check…" she trailed off and ran out of the room, looking even paler than before.

Remus was staring at the door with a look of concern on his face before he finally shrugged and continued to eat his breakfast.

After a few minutes, Ginny said, "I think I'll go see what's up."

Harry followed shortly after to make sure that everything was all right. Once upstairs, he followed the voices of Tonks and Ginny.

Ginny was asking, "Are you sick?"

Tonks answered, "No, I'm not sick, not really. Actually, uh, I'm… Oh, uh, hi Harry! Don't worry, it's nothing, go finish your breakfast, we'll be back in a minute, I just have to talk to Ginny for a bit."

And with that said, Tonks grabbed Ginny's arm and pulled her rather violently into the nearest room, slamming the door closed in Harry's face.

"Um….ok," and Harry left rather confused, but he decided to let the matter be. For the moment.

After finishing breakfast, everyone split their own way. Harry was in desperate need of collecting his thoughts, and so he roamed aimlessly around the house. As he did so, he kept on the look out for any sign of the locket or other possible horcruxes, but he didn't really have much hope of finding anything. Empty handed, Harry headed back towards the kitchen around noon to see if anyone was there.

"Oh, hello, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said as she climbed up the staircase. "Could you fetch everyone you can find for me? Lunch is ready."

"Sure," Harry agreed and he went off towards Ginny's room to find her first.

Upon reaching the door to her room, Harry could hear strange sounds coming from within. Curious, he opened the door to find Ginny and Dylan lying on the floor, staring at a device of some kind that was emitting the weird sounds. Neither of them noticed his entrance.

It took a second for Harry to realize what it was they were watching so intently. He remembered having seen something of the like in Dudley's room back at Privet Drive. It was a portable DVD player.

To get the girls' attention, Harry cleared his throat rather loudly. Surprised, Ginny looked up to see who was there, but Dylan continued to watch the DVD player.

"Oh, hi, Harry! What's up?" Ginny asked.

"I'm supposed to tell you that lunch is ready. What are you watching?"

"Oh, this? It's Dylan's DVD player. It's a really interesting muggle device. She has every electronic you could ever think of. It's amazing! We're watching Pirates of the Caribbean ."

"Oh, I heard that was a good movie."

"It's a classic!" Dylan said abruptly, shocked that Harry had never seen it.

"Yeah, well, the Dursleys never exactly let me watch movies with them."

"Um, ok, whatever," Dylan answered, going back to watching her movie intently.

"We should probably be going down for lunch," Harry advised. "And I still have to get Ron and Hermione."

"I'll be down later. Just let me get past this really good part," Dylan said, not paying much attention to the person interrupting her.

"I'll help you find Ron and Hermione. Come on," Ginny offered, heading out the door, closely followed by Harry.

Harry followed Ginny to Ron's room, where they walked in to find Ron snogging Hermione.

"Aaaah," Harry shouted, quickly covering his eyes, "I've been scarred for life!"

"Sorry, mate," Ron said, blushing redder than Harry had ever seen him.

"What happened to our agreement?"

"How was I supposed to know that you'd just waltz in here?"

"Well, you shouldn't be doing things like that when someone could walk in and see you."

"It could have been worse."

"How so?"

"Well, I could've done it in front of you on purpose," Ron said angrily, leaning over and snogging Hermione again. "See?"

"Aargh, that's terrible! Well, how do you like this?" Harry said, before suddenly kissing Ginny who had been quietly standing next to him.

"Aahhh! Stop it! Alright, alright, I get the point! Just please, stop!" Ron shouted, squeezing his eyes closed as tight as he could without actually gouging them out of his eye sockets.

"Wow," Ginny said quietly to Harry while Hermione was attempting to calm Ron down. "I thought we were over."

"Sorry," Harry apologized, feeling truly guilty now. "Spur of the moment thing."

"It's ok. Hey, maybe we should get revenge on them more often."

"I wish we could, but—"

"Yes, I know, Voldemort could use me as bait, la dee da. Have I mentioned that I don't care?"

"Many times, but I—"

At that moment, Tonks walked in the door, asking, "What's all of the shouting about?"

Ron stammered, pointing as he attempted to explain, "I was… and then he was… and we were…"

Finally, Hermione had to answer for him, blushing furiously as she did so, "We were kissing and then Harry came in, freaked out, then they were kissing to get back at us, and now everyone's just grossed out."

"Oh really? Well, I could gross you out some more. Hey, Remus!"

"No!" all of the teens shouted at once.

"Really, that's quite all right," Harry said, not wanting to be even more disgusted than he already was.

"Well, I could always get your parents, Ron,"

Both Ron and Ginny cringed and began to furiously protest with this. Harry and Hermione were with them all the way.

"Aww, it would have been fun to see you squirm," Tonks said, disappointed, before walking back out of the door.

The four teens remained standing, staring at each other completely shocked at what had just happened over the past few minutes.

Ginny suggested, "What do you say we just forget all of this happened and we go down to have some lunch?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," Hermione agreed, glaring at Ron before he reluctantly nodded his head. Clearly, both Ron and Harry wanted to hold this over each others' heads for quite a while. However, they grudgingly walked out into the hall due to the persuasion of their girls.

Once everyone had sat down to lunch and had piled food on their plates, Mrs. Weasley began to speak.

"Now, seeing as there seems to be so many people in this house at the current moment, I think we need some ground rules."

There was much groaning at this, mainly from the teens in the house, yet Tonks has also joined in. The twins merely decided to point and laugh, considering that they had been staying at their shop lately.

Mrs. Weasley addressed Fred and George, "And while you two are here, you better be abiding by these rules, too."

They added their complaints to the chorus already present. Only Hermione and Lupin seemed content that there were to be rules.

"First of all, I want to keep this a PG rated house."

"But," Tonks interrupted, "Everyone here is over 13, so why don't we make it PG-13? Oh, better yet, there's only a few people under 17, and there's plenty of adult supervision, so how about we make it rated R?"

"No, Tonks! We are going to keep it PG. For the sake of all of us that are sane. Which just so happens to be very few of us."

Mrs. Weasley turned her back away from Tonks to discuss something with the twins, and while she did so, Tonks spontaneously went over to Remus and began to kiss him. They ignored Mrs. Weasley as she continued on with her list.

"Also, I don't want anyone sleeping in the same room with someone of the opposite sex unless they're married." She paused to look pointedly and Tonks and Remus, before raising her voice to catch their attention and tell them, "I would like you to refrain from kissing, and please, Tonks, one person per chair."

"Aww," Tonks said, getting up to move to the seat next to Remus. "And anyways, none of those were rules while we were doing them, so therefore, we haven't broken any rules!"

Remus silently nodded his head in agreement with Tonks, resulting in Mrs. Weasley's comment, "Honestly, I expected better from you, Remus!"

"Sorry, Molly," he said quietly, "but I can't help it, I'm a man in love."

"Yes, well, that doesn't excuse your behavior. I thought you, of all people, would have better control over your actions. And Tonks, you need to set a good example for the kids."

The teenagers were appalled at the slaughtering remark of them being only 'kids'. Tonks, however, was laughing quite hysterically.

"Me? A good example? Wow, now that's funny. I think you might have me confused with someone else."

Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes, before continuing her list. It consisted of many pointless things and some that would actually be helpful, yet they still irked the occupants of the house.

Ignoring their mother, Fred and George were whispering almost inaudibly about how long they thought it would take them to break every single one of the rules. Apparently, they'd come up with a new mission in life. And they had a plan to accomplish it. However, they were having trouble coming up with how to break the rule of no kissing. And then, it came to them.

"I know!" George burst out after Mrs. Weasley had finished and left the room, "I'll take Tonks and you get Hermione!"

"You will not!" Hermione refused profusely.

"I agree," Ron said, putting his arm protectively around Hermione's shoulders, clearly claiming her as his and only his.

"Come on, it's a good cause," Fred pitched in.

"Your mother made those rules for a very good reason," Hermione argued. "And anyway, I'm with Ron, who I hope you remember is your little brother?"

"Minor detail."

"Pfft! Minor detail, huh, well, I'll tell you—"

"Oh, fine," Fred interrupted, not wanting to be lectured once again. "What about you, Tonks?"

"I—,"

"She will not," Lupin answered for her, putting a dangerous emphasis on his words that clearly told the twins that there was absolutely no hope in attempting to argue.

At that moment, Dylan walked in, much to the surprise of the twins.

"And who may this lovely young lady be?" Fred said, over-emphasizing his "gentleman-like" manners.

"I'm Dylan. And of course I'll help you. But first, I need to know your name."

Fred was rather shocked for a few minutes as he went back to think if he had even asked for her help, but decided it really didn't matter.

"My name is George Weasley," Fred said, hoping that he'd be able to blame this on George later.

"Why did you give me your brother's name, Fred?"

"What? How did you…but…You can tell us apart? Wow. Not even our own mother can do that."

"Umm, ok, sure,"

George cut into the conversation, having been previously trying to persuade Tonks and Remus. "No luck with Tonks."

"Eh, we knew it was a losing battle. But this lovely goddess over here has agreed to my offer."

"Well, that's great," George said, "but what—,"

"—about you?" Fred finished his sentence. "Hmm…I wonder… Dear Dylan, would you by any chance take both of us?"

"Of course!"

"Excellent. Now, George, you may go first if you wish to do so."

"Why thank you, dear brother."

Attempting to continue his sudden business-like manner, George walked over and snogged Dylan, who seemed quite content with the way her day was going so far.

"Come on," Fred interrupted, "you're taking too long. It's my turn now. We have other rules to break, you know."

"Ah, sorry, I got lost in the moment."

"No worries."

And with that statement, Fred walked over and snogged Dylan, much longer and much more passionately than George had. It was much more than a simple kiss.

"And he thought _I_ took too long," George commented, even though he could have cared less.

While all of this was going on, Hermione disdainfully said, "How American," and continued to give Dylan disapproving glares.

Once Fred was done with his "business deal", George said, "Now, to continue with our mischief…"

Fred said, "Thank you Dylan, you have made this very hard task of breaking rules so much more enjoyable."

"My pleasure, gentleman."

Together, the twins said, "No, no, it was our pleasure."

Dylan smiled before saying offhandedly, "You are an excellent kisser, you know."

"Which one of us?" the twins asked simultaneously.

"Oh, I think I'll keep that to myself."

They gave her identical, scrutinizing looks, before finally saying, "Well, thanks again."

"Anytime!"

Fred said, "I'll keep that in mind in case we… um, I mean, I need to break another rule."

Harry thought that was quite possibly the first time that he had ever heard one of the twins talk about getting in trouble without the other. No wonder he had such a hard time saying it.

Once the twins had left the kitchen most likely to wreak some havoc, Dylan asked, "So Ginny, are those your twin brothers that you were telling me about earlier?"

"Yeah."

"You didn't say they were cute!"

"I'm sorry, I generally don't view my brothers as 'cute'."

"Oh, well, ok. He's not seeing anyone, is he?"

"Which one?"

"The cuter one," Dylan said as if it was quite obvious which one was cuter.

"They're identical!"

"No they aren't, Fred's cuter. So, is he seeing anyone?"

"No, I guess not, not that I know of."

"Good. I like how he kisses."

"Yes," Hermione said rather sarcastically, "and that's the best reason of all to go out with someone."

"Well, sure it is."

"Kissing ability isn't everything, you know."

"Who's kissing?" Mrs. Weasley asked with a dangerous tone in her voice as she reentered the kitchen.

Hermione instantaneously answered, "Fred, Dylan, and George."

"Oh no, we will have none of that. Where did they go off to? I need to have a serious conversation with those boys." Then she mumbled, "Not like it'll do any good…"

"I think they went off to break the remainder of your rules," Hermione offered

"Of course they did," Mrs. Weasley said wearily. She seemed to have had quite enough of their foolery over the course of the twins' lifetime.

Apparently, Mrs. Weasley decided to wait to talk to them until after lunch, however, because she sat down to join the others with their meals. Although as soon as she sat down, she turned to Tonks.

"So Tonks, where do you think you could sleep tonight? I was thinking one of the couches in the other living room. What do you think?"

"Oh, well, I was thinking about maybe not sleeping tonight, but perhaps spending the night next to Remus in his bedroom."

That seemed to make Mrs. Weasley quite furious because she began to turn redder and redder.

"What do you mean 'not sleeping'?"

However, Dylan answered for Tonks, "I'm not sure that you want the answer to that question."

Tonks agreed, "Yeah, probably not. Wait, were you in my head, Dylan?"

"No," she quickly answered, however the response was a little too quick to be coming from an innocent person.

Mrs. Weasley could care less about that, however. Or maybe she just didn't hear that part of the conversation while submerged in the depths of her sudden rage.

"How dare you speak of such things in front of the children?"

"Come on, Molly. They aren't kids, they teens. They think about sex almost as much as I do."

"_That is enough!_" Mrs. Weasley was shouting right now, and she made quite a rival to the portrait of Mrs. Black on the wall out in the hall.

"Fine," Tonks said, annoyed that things weren't going her way. "So I'm sleeping in Remus' room?"

"No, you're not!"

"It's not your house! It's Harry's, so he should make the rules. Harry, what do you think?" Tonks asked him, giving him a pleading look so sad that Harry could hardly resist remaining neutral in this conversation that he really did not want to be a part of.

"Um… I guess it's ok. But only as long as I don't hear about any of this ever again."

"Yay!" Tonks got up and did a sort of little happy dance. " I win!"

Clearly, Mrs. Weasley wasn't very happy with anyone in the kitchen at the present moment. "That doesn't count. Even if he does own the house, we can't let him make the rules!"

They continued to argue until finally, Mrs. Weasley suggested that the 'kids' leave the room.

As they walked out, Ginny mumbled, "Oh no, the "adults" are talking about sex so we all have to leave. Pfft! As if we haven't heard enough by now…"

"Well," Harry sarcastically said once they were out in the hall, "that was a fun conversation."

"Oh yeah, almost as much fun as watching my best mate snog my little sister!"

"You're never gonna get over that, are you, Ron?"

"Nope."

Attempting to avoid a fight, Dylan suggested, "You guys wanna go watch a movie? Oh, but wait, my portable isn't big enough for all of us to watch."

"I can fix that," Hermione offered.

So, the group of various teenagers went up to Dylan and Ginny's room where Dylan pulled out her DVD player. Hermione performed a simple charm on it, making the screen expand to a lovely size that was easily viewable to all, much to Dylan's delight.

After debating, they finally decided to watch Spiderman 2. Harry had suggested Spiderman, having heard something about it before, but Dylan didn't seem to have that one. Instead, she seemed very inclined to watch its sequel, insisting that they would all love it.

Once the movie was over, a long argument began between Harry and Ginny.

"See?" Ginny argued, "They decided that it was more worthwhile to be together than to die apart. They cared more about each other than the off chance that the girl would be used as bait. You should really consider that ending, Harry. Think about it long and hard. And then put it to use in your own life."

Harry inwardly groaned, wishing, not for the first time, that he had not been the chosen one. Life would have been so much simpler. Not wishing to continue the argument, Harry left the room, to wander aimlessly around the house.


	9. Questions

Sorry once again for the long wait between chapters. As always, school is very restricting on our lives. Pre-Calculus will be the downfall of humanity. And, Jewel is sick and wishes that it be known and put on the record that she is feeling icky. So, we're sorry for the wait, but hopefully the length of this chapter will make up for it. 

Disclaimer: We own nothing but Dylan. And JK Rowling is our hero, so we could not possibly be her. We aren't that conceded. Unlike the 'star' of our school's football team who adds 'the' before his name.

Ch. 9 – Questions 

As Harry walked blindly around Grimmauld Place, he was forced to consider his current standing in life. He knew that he needed to find the horcruxes and destroy them, but how to do that, he had no idea. He wished that he could enlist the help of the order, however, he remembered how he had so determinedly resisted their questioning earlier that summer. Dumbledore had told him not to tell anyone, and so he wouldn't, no matter how hard his task might be.

And the less people he could drag into this ring of chaos, the better. He already regretted that Ron and Hermione would be with him, but Harry supposed that he had no choice. They did deserve to be with him after all they'd been through together.

Then, there was the matter of Ginny. Harry so desperately wanted to be with her, and yet, his brain screamed "no" all the same. Every time she pleaded with him, his resolve degraded further and further. He wasn't sure how much longer he could last. It killed Harry that he couldn't be with her, but he knew that it was better for her sake, even if she didn't realize it.

Harry was so submerged in his thoughts that he almost didn't hear the bickering coming from a doorway up ahead that had been left open a crack. Upon passing it, he recognized the noise as Mrs. Weasley arguing against a weary Lupin and a livid Tonks. Apparently, she still wouldn't let them stay in the same room at night. And they still wouldn't give up. Peering through the crack, he could see Lupin and Tonks on a couch, Tonks animatedly arguing with Mrs. Weasley, while Lupin had his arm around Tonks' shoulders, removing it only when he needed to turn the page of the book that he was reading.

With a lopsided grin, Harry walked past the doorway, going upstairs to the drawing room, where he had a brief memory of cleaning the room out, and a glimpse of an unopening locket that was quite possibly the missing horcrux that he and Dumbledore had been after on that fateful night not so long ago.

Without much hope, Harry searched the cupboards in the room, but it was nowhere to be found. Just as he had suspected, the locket was gone, along with the rest of the dark relics once claimed by the Blacks.

To get his mind off of his many worries, Harry went back to the sitting room where his things still were from the night before. He pulled out a quidditch book that he had read so many times, the pages were beginning to yellow around the edges.

Eventually, Mrs. Weasley came in to call Harry to dinner, Tonks trailing shortly behind her to continue the never-ending argument that they had been carrying on all day long.

Reluctantly, Harry put his book down, storing the remains of his quidditch memories back in his trunk.

Dinner was chaotic, just like the rest of the meals. Harry was glad to see that Snape was nowhere to be found. Apparently, he had been allowed to leave. Or, at least, to have dinner alone in his room where he wouldn't be given death glares all night.

As soon as the food was placed on the table, it disappeared onto the many plates. Food was magically flying everywhere as each person attempted to get his or her share as quickly as possible. Harry, Ginny, and Dylan were the only ones that were unable to magic food across the table. Fortunately, that meant that they didn't have to deal with their food colliding mid-air with other peoples' food, something that seemed to be occurring quite often.

Harry glanced around the table at the disorder and happened to notice that Tonks was attempting to manually grab food for her plate, however, the food kept flying out of her hands before it would reach her plate. That quickly stopped, though, when Mrs. Weasley gave a very ferocious glare at the twins.

Mrs. Weasley dispersed drinks around the table, pouring wine into the glasses that sat in front of each person. Although, when she got to Tonks, she refused the wine and insisted upon having only water.

"Are you sure, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "All right, then. There's a pitcher of water on the counter over there."

Tonks automatically pulled out her wand and pointed it at the pitcher that began to fly towards her. However, the next thing anyone knew, there was a loud crash as the pitcher fell to the ground and water mixed with glass sprayed everywhere. Tonks still held her wand up, completely baffled at what had just happened.

Silence reigned for a minute, before Remus finally said, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah… yeah, I think so," Tonks answered, looking around as if she had lost a prized possession. "My magic… it just… stopped. I can't sense it. It's not there."

Looking truly concerned now, Remus put his hand on her shoulder, asking, "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yeah, I… I think I'll be fine. I just need some food and some rest."

"Ok," He said skeptically, looking Tonks over to make sure she wasn't ill.

Hermione had a look of one who had been searching for an answer to a question and had only just found it.

"What is it?" Harry asked her, knowing that when she had that look, something important had just been explained.

"It's nothing… but… I don't know… maybe… I think…because…and then…but I need to…"

"Yeah, I had a feeling you'd do that."

She didn't appear to have heard a word he had said. _Typical Hermione,_ Harry thought with a knowing smile.

For the rest of dinner, Lupin quietly ate with a perpetual worried look about him, and he kept glancing at Tonks to make sure that she was still all right. Tonks had a permanent blush seared into her cheeks, and Lupin's antics weren't helping. Hermione had an anxious look about her, and she kept glancing at the door as if she really wanted to leave.

As dinner ended, Hermione literally ran out of the door, while the twins casually strolled out to avoid clean up. Lupin pulled Tonks out of the room, insisting to make sure that she was okay. So the remaining people cleaned up the dinner mess.

Unsure of how to help, or maybe just not wanting to, Dylan remained sitting at the table. She watched them for a while before her curiosity finally got the better of her

"Uh, Harry, Ginny said you might be able to explain everything to me."

"What do you mean by everything?

"Everything. Voldemort, these death-eating people, why they're trying to kill you, why everyone's so scared of them, what my father had to do with all of this, and finally, what _I_ have to do with all of this."

Harry sat dumbfounded for a few seconds, before saying, "So, everything, huh? Well, I dunno where to start…"

"I can do that," Lupin said from the doorway where he and Tonks had apparently heard the conversation.

"You see, Dylan, Lord Voldemort is a very powerful dark wizard that came to power many years ago. The Death Eaters are his faithful followers that do his bidding, whatever that may be. Generally, it's killing, and wherever that occurs, they leave their mark: the Dark Mark. You'll know it when you see it. It's so evil that it's unmistakable. _Never_ walk into a place with the mark above it. It'll put you in some of the greatest danger that ayone could ever imagine. Omitting Harry, here, of course."

"Yeah," Dylan said, glad to have been handed her next topic, "Why is Harry so famous and why does Voldemort want him?"

"Well, nobody really knows for sure, although we think your father may have had known almost everything about this topic. But either way, Voldemort wanted Harry for some unknown reason—"

At this point, Harry cut in rather quietly saying, "I know why."

"You know—?"

"Yeah, Dumbledore told me…" Harry stopped for a moment, contemplating over whether he should actually tell them or not. However, he remembered Dumbledore persuading him to tell his friends for fear of doing them a disservice, and Harry thought that if anyone ought to know, it should be Lupin and the Weasley's. And if this new addition to their 'family' was indeed Dumbledore's daughter, well, maybe she should know, too.

"You remember how the Daily Prophet keeps talking about a prophecy about me being the 'Chosen One'? Well, they're right."

Gasps could be heard around the table, except for Ron and Hermione (who had recently come back in with an excited look about her), of course, who were only astounded that their persistent Harry had finally given in and told someone else. And, Dylan was rather absent from the gasps, as well, considering that she had absolutely no idea what they were so surprised at.

Since he was already telling them part of the story, Harry decided to fill in all of the details. Concerning this part, at least.

"There was a prophecy made to Dumbledore shortly before I was born, stating that someone would be born at the end of July to parents who had thrice defied Voldemort. And that the 'chosen one' would be marked by Voldemort and would be able to vanquish him with 'powers the Dark Lord knows not'. Well, here I am. And according to the prophecy, 'neither can live while the other survives."

There was a stunned silence as the consequences of such a prophecy fully sunk in. Not knowing what to do, Harry continued his story.

"Part of that prophecy was overheard by a Death Eater. Snape, to be exact, who then retold what he had heard to Voldemort. According to Dumbledore, he was sorry for what he had done, however, I hardly think that he would be sorry for the downfall of two people that he hated so much."

"People can surprise you, Harry. Keep that in mind," Lupin added quietly with an anxious look on his face, clearly wanting to discuss the matters of the prophecy with Harry. However, he seemed to have decided it better to wait until they could talk one-on-one.

"So what happened after Snape told Voldemort?" Dylan asked.

"Well," Remus explained, "Voldemort himself went to the Potters' house with the purpose, I'm guessing, to destroy the one destined to destroy him."

"Yeah," Harry agreed with the assumption, "but Snape hadn't heard all of the prophecy, so Voldemort wasn't aware that to attack me now would only ensure that I was the one destined to vanquish him, marking me as his equal."

Lupin continued, "Voldemort killed Harry's parents, however, he could not manage to kill Harry, despite his utmost efforts to do so. Voldemort disappeared, and all believed him to be gone forever. However, he was only banished to an ethereal form, and has since managed to gain back his original composition, or one close to it. If at all possible, avoid confrontation with Voldemort."

"I'll second that piece of advice," Harry agreed wearily. "Believe me, I know from experience."

"You've met him?" Dylan asked eagerly. "How? When? What happened?"

Harry sighed, "This just made answering these questions so much longer. Ok, well, I first met him when I was a baby and he tried to kill me. Except, for some wild reason, I just can't remember that particular event. After that, I was secluded from the magical world while Dumbledore attempted to protect me. During my first year at Hogwarts, I stopped Voldemort from trying to steal the Sorcerer's Stone. Although, I originally thought that it was Snape."

"Well that's a reasonable accusation!" Dylan said, rather liking Harry's view on the one who had been assigned to "protect" her.

"Don't forget that we were part of it!" Ron interrupted. "I was almost _killed_ by that life-size chess set."

Hermione added, "And I had to drag him back unconscious, all the while wondering if you were still alive, Harry. Oh boy was that fun."

"Well, I'm sorry, but seem to have been fairly busy attempting to ward off Voldemort."

Stopping any potential arguments, Lupin interjected. "Yes, Harry stopped Voldemort from securing the Sorcerer's Stone, which would have given him a means to restore himself to a true body. However, that seems to have made him quite angry. And then in his second year, he managed to stop Voldemort from acquiring a body, once again. But this time, he went into the Chamber of Secrets to rescue Ginny, here, who Voldemort had possessed and used to help him come back to power."

"But I stopped him," Harry said, rather on edge from having his whole life laid out before him and thoroughly explained to another. "I almost died in the process, but I destroyed the diary which was a—" Harry had to stop himself from almost saying 'horcrux', before attempting to recover, "—it was playing host to a memory of Voldemort."

All of the mentioning of Voldemort's name had begun to get to most of the group. Ron and his parents had been visibly flinching throughout the whole conversation, but they made no move to stop the saying of his name, knowing that it was best to not fear a name although they were unable to rectify the fear that had consumed them for so long.

"It wasn't all you, you know," Ron added, apparently wanting to be acknowledged for all of his work. "I had to sit and worry about you and my sister while baby-sitting the raving lunatic that was once our teacher."

"And don't forget that I was petrified," Hermione said indignantly.

"And I was unconscious down in a big cave below the school," Ginny said, wanting to be a part of the conversation. "But I did get to wake up to Harry standing over me. With a giant dead snake right beside him. And the surprise that I was suddenly in a musty, cold cave. Talk about a lovely wake up call."

"And so," Lupin concluded, "Harry stopped Voldemort once again. In his third year, he managed to avoid conflict with Voldemort, but he did meet me. And his godfather."

"Who I thought to be a mass murderer that was coming after me."

"Yes, well, we all thought that. But it was explained eventually." To define the circumstances to Dylan, he said, "Sirius was framed to have killed 13 people. He spent time in prison for it, and he broke out that year."

"Yeah. And then there was my fourth year at Hogwarts. Wow, does that one need a lot of explanation."

"Yes, he was entered into the Triwizard Tournament by a death eater that was posing as a well-known auror and working as a teacher at Hogwarts. So Harry was put into immense danger, and at the end, he was transported to Voldemort's lair. He witnessed a fellow competitor die at the hand of Voldemort, before being forced to watch Voldemort's return to a human body."

"And then, I was forced to duel with him. By some extremely rare occurrence, I was able to get out alive. And then the Daily Prophet spread word that I was a madman and not to be trusted, so nobody would believe me when I said Voldemort was back. Everyone was so content with hiding in their own dreams of a perfect world that they refused to accept the crude truth of the world."

Lupin took over, "That was when the Order was reestablished. Dumbledore and many anti-Dark Arts people had created it during the First War with Voldemort. Since he had returned, Dumbledore deemed it fit to return the old group of people to fight. However, very few of us were left. So we were forced to recruit new members.

"At that point, Harry's godfather, Sirius, had been in hiding for quite some time and he offered his house, this house, to be used for headquarters. He felt that it was the only thing he could do to help, considering that he was unable to walk up to people and start recruiting. He'd just as soon be thrown back in prison."

"In my fifth year," Harry explained, "I had to deal with the ministry which was trying to expel me from Hogwarts. That was a fun year," he added with extreme sarcasm.

"You see this?" Harry held up his hand to show to Dylan the shiny scar that said 'I must not tell lies'. "This is the mark that was my punishment for telling the truth to a ministry official."

"Yes, the Ministry of Magic can be rather… more obsessed with popularity than doing good for the overall wizarding world," Lupin said bitterly. He had quite a few grudges to hold against the ministry, considering their extreme restrictions on werewolves.

Tonks interrupted, "You met me that year!"

"Yeah, how could I forget that?" Harry continued, "Anyway, that year was the year I found out about the prophecy. And when Voldemort came to the Ministry of Magic and attempted to possess me. And when he and Professor Dumbledore battled one-on-one. Dumbledore was the only one that Voldemort ever feared. Without him, we can expect much more chaos and death."

"That battle was also where Sirius died," Lupin added quietly, knowing that if he didn't say it, nobody would. "And that was when this house was left in Harry's possession."

Everyone was silent for a few minutes while Harry and Lupin each ended up reliving the events of that battle in their minds. It was one particular part of their lives that neither would ever forget.

Finally, Dylan said, "That's all fine and dandy, but are we almost to my father's death yet?"

"Yeah, we're getting there," Harry answered. "Your father gave me one-on-one lessons in my sixth year, although I'm not at liberty to say what we discussed."

"Oh, about that, Harry," Lupin said. "It is of utmost importance that we know what went on between you and Dumbledore, especially what you were doing the night of his death."

"Yes, but he told me not to tell anyone."

"That was before his death. When we talked to his portrait, he made it clear that you were to tell us and that we were to help you on your quest, although whatever that may be, he left to you to explain."

"And how can I know that the you and the portrait aren't lying?"

"Harry, think about what you just said. Would I lie to you about something as important as this?"

Remus let him consider the facts for a while. Harry thought that it would be very helpful if the Order was helping him to find and destroy the horcruxes, seeing as he had no idea where to start. And the portrait had been right about Dylan. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to just tell them.

So Harry reluctantly explained about the lessons he'd had concerning Voldemort's past, and then they moved to the topic of the horcruxes. They spent quite a long time discussing everything that Harry knew about the topic, until finally, Dylan impatiently said:

"Ok, so what about my father's death?"

"Well," Harry explained, "We went to go find one of the horcruxes, Slytherin's locket, and Professor Dumbledore became very injured. When we got back, the Dark Mark was over Hogwarts, blazing in the night sky. We rushed back to see what had happened, and Professor Dumbledore sent me to fetch Snape, insisting that he see him rather than the nurse.

"However, before I could get to the door, Malfoy came walking in. Oh," Harry attempted to explain this new person added into the conversation, "he's only my one mortal enemy besides Voldemort. And Malfoy is now a Death Eater."

"We don't have proof of that," Hermione blurted out.

"Proof? You need proof? Well, here's your proof! He attempted to kill Dumbledore!"

"Yes, but we know he was working only to protect his family. That doesn't necessarily mean that he is a Death Eater."

"He is. Just trust me. So far, my accusations seem to have been right. Anyway, Professor Dumbledore got some compassion out of him, got him to lower his wand. However, at that moment, reinforcements came in. And finally, Snape. Who mercilessly murdered your father, Dylan."

"Yeah, well," Dylan said offhandedly, "none of us really like Snape. And he wonders why? But, anyways, why am I involved in all of this?"

Lupin took the spotlight for this question. "If Voldemort finds out that Dumbledore had a daughter, which he undoubtedly will, now that you no longer have your father's protection, then he will want you dead."

"But why would he want me dead? I haven't done anything to him."

"Yes, but that doesn't matter to him. You're the daughter of the greatest wizard known to exist besides Voldemort. He wouldn't take the chance of you being just as good, or even better, than your father. And he definitely wouldn't want you as his enemy."

"But I can't even do simple spells! What am I gonna do to him, poke him violently with my wand? Bother him with my tendency to be annoying?"

"He doesn't care what you can or can't do. He won't take any chances. Not since he's made so many mistakes in recent years. And since he'll most likely be after you, we need to keep you protected and keep your identity hidden further. If you're ever out in public, you should be referred to with your mother's maiden name. Never use your father's last name. That would be a red flag to Voldemort. And, you always need to have a member of the Order present with you."

"But—"

"That's the way it has to be. And now, I think we all need to go to sleep. It is rather late."

"Harry, dear," Mrs. Weasley said as everyone quietly dispersed, "you can sleep in Ron's room now, we've freed up the extra bed in there. I'll have your things sent up."

"Ok, thanks,"

However, Harry remained where he was, completely astounded by the realization of the disasters that had occurred throughout his life. Having just been forced to bluntly relive his life in the past few hours, all of his past emotions that had been previously buried were suddenly dug up again. He felt his pain for the loss of all of his loved ones. He felt the guilt for having hurt so many. He felt separated from the rest of society, knowing what he had gone through and what he had left to do. All of this was getting to be way too much for him.

Harry went up to his new bed, but he couldn't sleep. He had inadvertently hurt so many people; he thought it best if he just disappeared. However, he knew that the hope of victory against Voldemort rested on his shoulders. It wouldn't do for him to disappear. That would only hurt more people in the long run. However, he felt compressed by his surging emotions, and the only thing that would cure it would be to get away from everything. So, he quietly lay in bed and came up with a plan.

Although, the entire time while he was attempting to come up with a detailed plan, a single doubting thought kept coming to him: _Lupin's gonna kill me._ It kept stalling him just enough, that his plan wasn't quite as thourough as he could have wished.

However, after the noises of the house had quieted, and it seemed to be sometime in the very early morning, Harry quietly made his way out of the room. He was walking down the stairs, when suddenly, he heard a voice.

"And where do you think you are going?"

A light came on, emitted from the tip of Lupin's wand, who was sitting on the couch just inside the sitting room. Tonks was sitting right beside him with her head resting on his shoulder.

"Somehow," Harry answered, "I doubt you'd believe me if I said I was going to the bathroom."

"Right you are. I had a feeling you'd try to leave tonight. You know that I can't let you."

"Yes, but—"

"I know how you feel, Harry, but I can't let you leave. I'm sorry. I know you see my reasoning."

"Yeah," Harry reluctantly agreed, "but it never hurts to try."

"Unless you're trying something detrimental to your health. Now, I suggest that you get back to bed, and stay there, because I'd really like to get to sleep myself. I'd rather not have to sit here and patrol the door all night."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Do I have your word that you won't leave?"

"You have my word."


	10. Tonks' Secret

There were two chapters put up this time, because it was originally one large chapter that gota little_too_ large. So enjoy this chapter and the next chapter, it's double the fun! And these chaptersare in Remus Lupin's point of view. So, be prepared for a different outlook on life. --Taela 

Aloha all! This is my fav ch so far! I just LOVE it!O I am Jewel by the way! (Taela let ME write the authors note and disclaimer this time!) Anyway this is such a GOOD ch and for all u Tonks/Remus fans ur gonna love it too! It finally answers that ? of what is up with Tonks and really u should already know we left like a bazillion clues! So Enjoy and we will update ASAP as long as U review! Deal? Good!

Ok ya we aren't JK Rowling and we don't own nothing but Dylan of course!(I'm not so sure if we should be proud of that or not?) And really y would u think JK Rowling would waste her time writing a fan-fic and get zilch out of it when she could just make it into a book and get millions of dollars! Or is it pounds?

**Ch. 10 – Tonks' Secret**

Remus blearily opened his eyes, his internal clock telling him that it was time to get up for the day. Wondering what the time was, he slowly got up from bed, taking care not to wake the sleeping Tonks that was right beside him.

Upon looking at the clock, he noticed that it was a late time for him to be waking up, and yet, it was still rather early for Tonks.

Remus thought, _I bet Molly has breakfast ready, I should go down. But I wouldn't want Tonks to miss out; maybe I should wake her._

"Tonks, it's time to get up," Remus said quietly, knowing that Tonks was a light sleeper due to her auror-instilled reflexes.

There was a slight noise from beneath the covers that muttered, "Iwwdunnwanna…"

"I'm sorry, I don't understand gibberish."

"I said I don't want to," Tonks sharply said, annoyed at being woken up at this ungodly hour of the morning.

"Come on, don't you want breakfast? Molly would be upset if we didn't eat anything that she made."

"She has no reason to be upset. I'm not hungry. Besides, we followed her stupid rule and we didn't… how did she put it? 'Fool around' last night, she should be happy about that."

"Well, no, we didn't have sex last night, but I still don't think she'd be happy with what we did do. And, you didn't have any of Molly's pork chops last night, you must be starving."

"I haven't been in the mood for pork lately," Tonks said indignantly.

"Are you sure you aren't getting sick?"

"I'm fine, I just haven't been in the mood for pork lately."

"Well, I'm sure there's something other than pork. If not, I'll make you something else."

"Oh, all right," Tonks said, getting up and kissing Remus lightly on the lips. "But can't I just wear my pajamas to breakfast?"

Remus had to laugh while he imagined Molly's reaction to the outfit that Tonks was currently wearing. "No, I don't think Molly would approve of that."

"Yeah, but it would be so much fun to watch her struggle with what to yell at me about first."

"Well, it might be, but would you just get dressed already? Or do I have to do it for you?"

"No," Tonks said, laughing. "The last time we did that, my clothes didn't match. I can dress myself, thank you very much! And what about you, Mr. Hypocritical? You're not dressed, either."

"I was just about to," Remus said, opening up his neatly organized dresser and pulling out his robes.

In the mean time, Tonks was digging around on the floor amongst the pillows and blankets that had fallen onto the floor during the night.

"Where are my blue jeans?" she asked, continuing to rummage around on the floor. "Aha! Found 'em."

"Don't you ever wear wizard's robes?" Remus asked curiously.

"Of course I do… sometimes. Just not today. Or yesterday. And most likely not tomorrow, either. Ahhh, where have all of my clothes gone?"

"Maybe you could try your trunk… oh wait, I don't think you could find anything in there."

"Oh, ha ha, very funny, Remus. Have you seen my Weird Sisters shirt?"

"Yeah, it's right there," he pointed to a laundry basket, "with all of your other clothes that I washed for you."

"Thanks! I don't know how I ever lived without you."

But before Tonks could put her shirt on, they got slightly distracted with each other. Until there was a knock on the door. Then they quickly stopped what they were doing.

"Breakfast is ready," Molly's voice said through the lovely barrier of the door. "Come down and eat."

"Um, yes, we— I —will be down soon," Remus answered, attempting to sound casual.

When he looked over at Tonks, he noticed that she was laughing hysterically with her hand over her mouth to try and keep from being heard.

"What do you think she would've done if she had come in?" Tonks asked.

"Oh, and saw the two of us kissing and only half dressed? And when you aren't even supposed to be in here with me? She probably would have killed us on the spot.

"No, probably just me," Tonks said as she pulled on her shirt.

"And why do you say that?"

"Because she likes you. You don't argue with her so you can be with a man fourteen years older than you. In her mind, I'm just a twenty-three year old kid that only thinks about getting shagged."

"Ok, so she may think that, but it doesn't mean that she hates you!"

"No," Tonks said with extreme sarcasm, "she just absolutely loves me because I'm a sinner who's had sex before marriage and who's a terrible role model for her children."

"Well, Tonks…"

"I know, I really am," Tonks said sadly.

"No, I was going to say that if you are, then I am."

"Good point!"

"Are you ready to go downstairs now?"

"Yeah, sure, but I probably look terrible."

"No, you look fine."

"You just have to say that so I don't curse you."

"Of course I don't, because I could easily block your curse. In case you've forgotten, I have enhanced reflexes due to my little problem. And speaking of magic, is you're magic still not working?"

As a response, Tonks pulled out her wand and pointed it at a nearby pillow. The pillow shakily rose up into the air for a few moments before falling back down to the bed.

"I guess not," Tonks said, looking fearfully concerned about the lack of her magical ability.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you're fine," Remus said reassuringly, despite his own severe concern for Tonks.

And with that parting note, they left the room to go downstairs for breakfast. However, when they got to the top of the stairs, Tonks stopped and asked Remus, "You don't see any marbles on the stairs, do you?"

"No… why?"

"Oh, the twins put marbles on the stairs yesterday and I just don't want to fall, that's all."

"No, I don't see any. Here, I'll even go down before you, if you want."

"Thanks."

Tonks followed Remus down the stairs, making sure to step in the very same places that he had stepped, just as a precaution. Upon entering the kitchen, they met a very livid Mrs. Weasley.

"I trust you two slept well?"

"Oh yeah, very well," Remus answered.

"Together?" Molly asked.

"But, we didn't—" Tonks interjected.

"I know that you two slept in the same room together."

"But—" Tonks stammered, confused as to how Molly would know that specific detail of the sleeping arrangements.

"There was a perfectly good reason for it," Remus said, attempting to keep the peace.

"Well, I'd like to hear it then."

"Tonks' magic was a little off last night, and for her own safety, she stayed in my room. If for some reason there were to be a danger of some sort, she wouldn't have been able to defend herself. If something was to happen to her then, I'd never be able to forgive myself. But, while she's in my room, I can protect her to the best of my abilities."

"Oh, well, I suppose that is a good reason, then," Molly reluctantly admitted. "While Tonks' magic is disabled, she may stay with you. No longer than that. And I don't want anything going on between the two of you!"

"Thank you, Molly," Remus said gratefully, glad that there was finally an end to the arguments, albeit a temporary one.

Mrs. Weasley began to pass out plates filled with various foods, all heavy with ham and pork. Before Tonks could even get her plate, she made up some lame excuse and ran out of the kitchen.

As she did so, Molly asked Remus, "What is up with that girl?"

Before Remus could answer, Hermione blurted out, "Yes, I know, she has been acting very weird, and she won't eat pork, and she's always running out during breakfast. And what's going on with her magic? I tried to find some information on it last night, but I only found one known medical reason why that could happen… but I'm sure it's something else…"

"Hermione," Remus said accusingly, "what are you trying to tell me is wrong with Tonks?"

Looking around at everyone, Remus noticed that everyone seemed to be rather curious with this subject, except for Ginny, who seemed to be failing at trying to switch the topic of the conversation.

"Well," Hermione answered Remus' question, "there's nothing really wrong with her, but… why don't you ask her yourself, I'm sure she knows."

Hermione pointed at Tonks as she entered the kitchen, followed by the twins and Dylan.

Tonks' immediate reaction was, "I didn't do it!"

"No," Hermione agreed, "technically, Remus did it."

"What?" Remus said, dumbfounded at what was occurring. He couldn't remember having done anything. "Tonks, Hermione here seems to think that there's something you're not telling us. Will you please tell her she's crazy?"

"Ok, Hermione, you're crazy. But, as always….she's right," Tonks said that last bit very quietly, not quite wanting to admit it yet.

"What?" Remus asked.

"Um… I guess I need to talk to you, Remus."

"I can't believe you haven't told him!" Hermione scolded Tonks.

"Told me what?" Remus continued to be confused.

"Just stay out of it Hermione," Tonks practically shouted.

By this point, the conversation had escalated to shouting, and Hermione had to shout even louder to be heard.

"She hasn't told you that—"

"Shut up, Hermione, I want to tell him!" Tonks yelled, tears forming in her eyes. This was not the way she had wanted this to go.

Remus was still plainly confused. "Tell me _what_?"

"No," Hermione shouted at Tonks. "Clearly you don't want to tell him, considering that you haven't told him yet."

"It was never the right time!"

"THE RIGHT TIME TO TELL ME WHAT?" Remus demanded.

Tonks opened her mouth to say something, but Hermione beat her to it.

"TONKS IS PREGNANT!"

There was dead silence all around the kitchen as those last words sunk deep into everyone's minds.

Finally, Remus broke the silence by saying quietly, "Tonks?"

"Yes, Remus?"

"Are you…?"

"Yeah," Tonks ashamedly admitted.

"Uhh…" Remus was clearly stunned by this new information. "Whose is it?"

"Whose is it? Whose is it?" Tonks looked at him astounded. "Oh, it's Voldemort's."

"WHAT?"

"No, you idiot, it's yours! Who else's would it be?"

"But when… we always…" Remus stammered.

"Yeah, except for…"

Recognition spread across Remus' face as he said, "…that night at Hogwarts."

"HOGWARTS?" Everyone in the kitchen shouted, completely astonished.

"Um…maybe they should…" Tonks began to suggest, however, he was interrupted by Ginny.

"Let me guess, we have to leave again?"

"No, that's okay, Tonks and me will leave. This is a conversation that needs to occur only between the two of us."

As Remus pulled Tonks out of the room, he stopped to say, "I trust that nobody will eavesdrop on our conversation, or I may have a little fun with some spells tonight."

Remus closed the door to the kitchen and told Tonks to go to his room.

"I'll be right back," he said, leaving to head back towards the kitchen.

However, he did not go in. Instead, he put his ear to the door. He was curious as to what the others would say about this news while they weren't in the room.

There was still silence, until the twins began laughing.

Together, they said, "Tonks got knocked up! Go Remus!"

Shaking his head, Remus walked back to his bedroom where Tonks was sitting on his bed, looking up rather guiltily at him.

"So, where do you want me to start?" she asked quietly.

"How about why you didn't tell me before now?"

"You're mad," she observed.

"Yes, Tonks, I'm mad. Did you think I'd be happy-go-lucky to find out that this had been concealed for me for so long?"

"Don't be mad," Tonks said as she got up, put her arms around Remus' neck and proceeded to kiss him. However, he realized what she was trying to do.

"Tonks, that's not going to make everything all right again."

"And why not?" she asked as she attempted to distract him again.

Remus forcefully pushed her away from him and strode over to the other side of the room with his back towards her, demanding, "Why didn't you tell me?"

There was no answer. Curious, Remus turned around to find tears falling rapidly down Tonks' face.

"Tonks?" He asked. Remus couldn't remember the last time that he had seen her actually crying.

Quietly, she muttered, "I was scared."

"Of what?"

"That you would leave me and our baby and leave me to raise it myself and I was scared that you didn't love me enough to stay and that maybe, just maybe, if I didn't tell you, you would…. I dunno…."

With this sudden outburst of her innermost fears, Remus' rage was completely dissolved. "Tonks, do you mean to tell me that you have no idea how crazy I am about you?

Still crying, Tonks shook her head. Remus moved closer to her.

"Well, I am. I love you Tonks, and I don't know where you got the idea that I'd leave you, but it is a completely insane idea, and you need to get it out of your head. Do you hear me?"

"Yeah." Crying even harder now, Tonks looked Remus directly in the eye to tell him, "I'm sorry. I'm so so very sorry. I should have told you."

"That doesn't matter anymore. You're only human, Tonks, you're allowed to make mistakes.

"It's all my fault, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so stupid and—"

"Tonks, it's just as much my fault as it is yours. Maybe even more so. Don't blame yourself for a mistake we both made."

Tonks was still crying uncontrollably, and Remus went over to her, holding her tight in his arms.

"Stop crying," he said, "please, it kills me to see you hurt like this, and knowing I caused it…"

With Tonks sniffing into his shirt, Remus could hear her muffled reply, "I'm trying to, but— Remus, I'm so scared!"

"You? Scared?"

"I know I'm not normally scared of anything, but this I am scared of. Being an auror, that's normal for me. This, this is unchartered territory. I'm scared that I'm going to be a terrible mother; I'm scared that I'm not even going to have the chance to be a terrible mother." And then, she said so very quietly, "I'm scared that I've ruined my life."

"How is it ruined?"

"I'm pregnant! I'm going to have a baby, Remus! Nothing is ever going to be the same."

"Yes, things will change, but they will change for the better. And why in the world do you think that you're going to be a terrible mother?"

"Because I'm not ready to be a mother! I'm still young. I'm still a kid myself, I have no idea how to raise a child. I'm not exactly the mom type, and I don't know if I'll ever get to be one."

"And what do you mean by that?"

"I'm gonna fall, or get into a duel and be hit with a curse, or something like that. I'm going to lose the baby, I just know it."

"No, you won't, because I won't let you."

They remained in each other's embrace for a while, taking comfort in each other's presence.

Finally, Tonks quietly said, "By the way, I love you, too, Remus."

He smiled and moved her so he could see her face. And then, he kissed her passionately.

Once they had broken apart, Tonks asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Remus laughed, "I'm not the one that's crying."

"Yes, but you just found out that you're going to be a father."

"Well, yes, I can't say that I'm not shocked, and I do wish you would have told me sooner."

"I'm sorry, I really am," Tonks said, tears rolling down her face once more.

"No, it's okay, I understand. Please stop crying."

"Are you still mad at me?"

"No, and I'm sorry that I was. You just caught me off guard."

"No, you have every right to have been angry. I wanted to tell you at the right time, but Hermione didn't exactly give me an option."

"That's okay, I would have understood even if you had waited longer."

"The thing is, I don't think you understand even now."

"Well, maybe that's true, but I'm not the one with another person growing inside of me. I am trying to understand what you're going through, and I'm sure it's hell."

"Yeah, being pregnant isn't anything like I imagined it to be."

"Nothing ever is."

There was another peaceful silence before Remus' curiosity got the better of him.

"Have you been to see a healer or psychic yet?"

"A psychic? No way! Why would I need to see one?"

"To find out if it's a boy or a girl."

"I really don't want to know, if that's all right with you."

"Sure, it's your choice. But I insist that you go to see a healer."

"Oh, alright."

"Tonks, can I ask you something?"

"I think you just did. But go ahead."

"You're planning on keeping the baby, right?"

"Of course! That's what you want, right?"

"Once again, it's your choice, Tonks. But I wouldn't have been very happy if you had chosen the other way."

Tonks smiled, before saying, "Now, can I ask you a question?"

"Ah, but you just did!" Remus said jokingly.

"Oh, ha ha ha. But, really, how involved do you plan on being in its life?"

"Well, I'm going to be its father, of course."

"Well, yes, but are you going to help me raise it?"

"That is what normal married couples do, they both—"

"Wait, I'm sorry, we're married now?" Tonks asked, pulling away from Remus in her astonishment.

"No, but we will be."

"Since when?"  
"Well, Tonks, you're pregnant, and seeing as I'm the father and not Voldemort, I'm supposed to marry you."

"Oh, so we're supposed to get married because we got drunk one night and made a stupid mistake?"

"No, we're supposed to get married because it's the right thing to do."

Tonks was to the point of shouting now, yelling, "You shouldn't marry someone just because you feel bad that you knocked them up! You should marry them because you love them and want to spend the rest of your life with them."

"But I _do_ love you!"

"And I love you, too, but do you love me enough to marry me?"

"Yes!"

"You're just saying that because it's what I need to hear. Be honest with yourself, Remus. If I wasn't pregnant right now, would you still want to marry me?"

"I… I don't know," he said quietly, searching deep inside of himself for the truth.

"Yeah, uh huh, that's a no."

"Maybe it is, Tonks, and maybe it isn't. But you _are_ pregnant."

"Oh really? I just thought that throwing up every morning because of the smell of pork was normal."

"Oh, I forgot about breakfast!" Remus said, hitting himself in the forehead. "You must be starved! You haven't been eating much for days. That can't be good."

"Yes, but that can wait. First, you need to get it in your head that we are _not_ getting married."

"We're not?"

"No, we're not. Please don't take it the wrong way, but I'm just not ready to be married yet."

"You're not ready to be a mother yet, either."

"Yeah, well, I don't seem to have much choice in that at the moment."

"Ok, fine, we aren't getting married. Yet. But I'm not giving up on this."

"I wouldn't expect you to."

"Alright, now that we have the whole marriage thing—temporarily—settled , will you have breakfast?"

"Could you go get me something so I don't have to smell pork again?"

"Of course I can."

"Ok, could you get me some eggs? And maybe some biscuits? Oh, and some coffee!"

"No coffee."

"But… but… why not? It's early and I need my caffeine fix!

"Exactly, you aren't supposed to have caffeine while you're pregnant, it's bad for the baby."

"Oh, well isn't that just wonderful? How about some chocolate milk, then?"

"That's perfectly fine. Is that all?"

"Yes, thanks!"

"No problem, it's my job to take care of you."

"Wait…" Tonks remained silent for a second while the full implications of this settled in. "So, you're like my personal slave, now?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Wow, that's awesome!"

"Yes, well, as long as you're happy."

Remus sat Tonks down on the bed and kissed her on the cheek.

Suddenly, Tonks whispered, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Remus answered just as quietly. "It's not your fault. Things like this happen, and we just have to take them as they come and make the best of them. Now, no more apologizing, okay?"

"Okay," Tonks said, throwing her arms around Remus' neck for a reassuring hug as she began to cry once more.

"It's going to be all right," he comforted. "Really, everything will be just fine."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I can't be positive. But I have faith."

Tonks was still crying, a sight which completely unnerved Remus. Tonks was known for her bravery in the face of danger, and she was not one to cry incessantly.

"Tonks, please, stop crying."

"I can't… I'm just so scared!"

"Don't be. I'm here, I won't let anything happen to you or our baby."

"Do you promise?"

"Most definitely."

"Can you promise me something else?"

"Anything."

"Don't leave me."

"I wouldn't dream of it. Tonks, I promise that I will never leave you," Remus whispered as he kissed her on the forehead.

"Are you all right now?"

"Yeah. But I am _really_ hungry!"

"Ok, I'll be right back with your food," Remus said, giving her a mock bow like a good little servant.

Tonks laughed through her quickly disappearing tears and waited for him to return.


	11. Nightmare

Aloha! Me Jewel again! This ch is also Remus/Tonks based and is also through His eyes and is also REALLY GOOD! Read Enjoy and PLEASE Review! Till Next Time (which I hope will be soon!) Aloha!

O ya I'm not JK Rowling and Taela is not JK Rowling either so go figure we don't own any of this but Dylan (da!) and um…ya

**Ch. 11 – Nightmare**

Sometime around noon, Remus and Tonks were in their room, enjoying each other's company. Perhaps a little too much. Suddenly, the door burst open and in came Harry, most likely to fetch them for lunch.

As soon as Harry had opened the door, he covered his eyes quickly and saying, "Aaaah, I'm sorry, very sorry…. Um… lunch is ready," and he ran hurriedly out of the door, making sure to close it as he went.

Furious, Tonks asked Remus, "Don't people know how to knock?"

"Well, I can hardly believe that he meant to come and see that."

"I hope not. That would be rather perverted."

Remus had to laugh a bit before asking, "So, is the moment ruined for you? Because it certainly is for me."

"Oh yeah, Harry totally destroyed it by walking in. How about we go get some lunch? We can pick up on this later."

"Sounds good."

Remus and Tonks left the room and went down stairs, Tonks making sure to let Remus go down first. And as he did so, he realized just how much the marbles had freaked her out. She wouldn't have just been scared of hurting herself. She was scared of losing her baby that she had kept secret.

They were outside of the door leading downstairs to the kitchen when Tonks motioned for Remus to stop. She cupped her hand around her ear and pointed to the door. He got what she meant. They could hear voices coming from the kitchen.

Ginny was saying, "So they were having—"

"No," Harry stopped her from finishing her thoughts, "they were just snogging. But I do think that they were headed in that direction."

"You think they would have learned a lesson."

Ron inputted, "Well, Tonks can't exactly get more pregnant than she already is."

Ginny said, "Well, besides the fact that Harry needs to learn how to knock, I don't see a problem with it."

This time, it was Hermione's voice they heard, "So you don't care that they are—"

But Dylan interrupted her. "Are you aware that they're listening to everything you guys are saying? They're right outside the door."

"Could you see something happening?" Ron curiosly asked.

"No, I can just sense their minds nearby and hear their thoughts much more clearly than normal. And I decided to stop you from saying what you were saying, because Tonks is rather pissed off at the moment."

As if on cue, Tonks came storming through the door and brushed rudely past Harry. Remus followed after her, giving Harry a stern yet apologetic look.

Lunch was rather awkward between everyone, except, of course, between the twins who were whispering quietly to each other at one end of the table. Concerning everybody else, there was only forced polite conversation until Mr. Weasley asked Tonks and Remus, "So you two made up?"

They nodded their heads in response, both too busy shoving food into their mouths to actually reply.

Ron whispered to Harry, "Made up? More like made _out_." It was quiet enough to be inaudible to Arthur, but Tonks still heard the comment.

"I think there should be a new rule added to Molly's list. Always _knock_!" Tonks suggested as she looked directly at Harry.

"Oh, trust me," he said with full sincerity, "I will never make that mistake again!"

"Good, because it is rather annoying when people butt in where they don't belong," Tonks said, this time giving Hermione a death glare that would effectively sap the life out of almost anybody.

Hermione asked, "Are you referring to me and my helping—"

"Helping?" Tonks interrupted her with a shout. "Why, I ought to—"

"What are you going to do? Poke me with your useless wand?"

"Useless? It was just… that was just a fluke! I can do magic, still."

"No, you can't, and you very well know it. When a witch becomes pregnant, she begins to slowly lose control of her magic until she has none left at all."

"None?… but… I WILL NOT LOSE CONTROL OF MY MAGIC!" Tonks yelled, as if saying it so forcefully would make it true.

"Tonks, calm down," Remus attempted to comfort her.

"Calm down? CALM DOWN? How can you say that? I mean… but… MY MAGIC!"

The twins were finding this outburst quite entertaining. Fred said, "Wow, that's going to suck."

"Yeah, have fun with that," George agreed.

"Shut up, you two!" the furious Tonks shouted.

"What are you going to do…" Fred began.

"…Poke us with your wand?" George finished.

"No," Remus growled, "but _I_ can do much more with my wand. Now do as she asked and please shut up."

At that moment, Mrs. Weasley came running into the kitchen and asked, "What is all of the screaming about?"

"Well, first Harry walked in on them about to have sex—"

"Thank you, Dylan," Remus interrupted, "but we don't need an entire recap."

"Remus and Tonks," Mrs. Weasley joined the shouting, "I don't want you two sleeping in the same room any longer!"

"Well, we are, Molly, because Tonks is losing her magic and she needs me to protect her."

"I am trying to raise my children with good morals and I can't do that with you two sleeping in the same room without being married. And by the way, when will that be?"

"Well, we're not," Tonks explained.

"You're not getting married?"

The argument went on and on and the teenagers were quick to finish their meals and run off to escape the entourage of screams. Fred and George were quite enjoying the fact that their mother had found some new people to yell at.

The argument ended temporarily when Tonks marched out of the door, tired with all of the yelling.

They spent the afternoon in Remus' room, taking refuge from the rest of the world. Somehow, the topic of Tonks' job came up.

"You should owl the ministry and inform them that you can't come to work for a while," Remus suggested.

"But why would I do that?"

"You don't have any magic! And when you do have it, it'll be extremely unreliable. Somehow, I don't think being an Auror is such a good idea when you have no magic!"

"I'll figure something out. I'm not the kind of girl to sit and wait for my man to come home. And I love my job. I've worked so hard to get this far, I don't want to give it all up so soon."

"I understand that, Tonks, but do you not realize how dangerous being an Auror is? And not to mention when your magic is sporadic? You could get hurt. You could harm the baby. You could _die_. I can't let that happen. I promised you that I wouldn't let it happen and I'm not going to let it happen."

That seemed to pacify Tonks for a time, but she never fully agreed to quit her job.

They ate dinner in Remus' room to escape Molly for a time, going back downstairs only when they deemed it safe. However, it still wasn't.

Molly was quick on the uptake of the debate. Tonks took the blunt of the argument once again, and while Remus attempted to rescue her more than once, Molly cut him off each time and began yelling at Tonks again.

Finally, Remus shouted, "I don't care what you think, Molly! Tonks is sleeping in my room, and that's that." And he pulled Tonks up from her chair where she was struggling to stay awake, helping her upstairs to _their_ room where they could finally rest from the trials of this never-ending day.

_Remus howled as the full moon shone brightly through the curtains of the window. He only had a small margin of control over his mind and body, less than when he usually took the Wolfsbane potion, but more than when he did not. Perhaps his potion had been made poorly this time.._

_There were only brief flashes when he noticed what he was doing, at other times, the werewolf within him completely consumed him. Remus was aware enough to notice that he had no idea where he was. However, it seemed like an inhabited place, rather than the usual safe places that he took his transformations. The realization was enough to strike fear in him, however, the werewolf quickly took over with a thrill of ecstasy._

_He was oblivious to his actions for some time, before suddenly, he was seeing clearly through his eyes. And yet, he was unable to control his actions. It was a very eerie feeling._

_Then, he noticed that he was in a bedroom of some sort. His sense of smell had been tingling for quite some time now, and he realized why as he looked around the room. To his ears came the quiet sound of slow breathing. The breathing of someone sleeping. There was someone in the bed. _

_But there was another sound, too. It was a faint sound coming from a corner of the room. Silently padding over towards it, Remus saw a bassinet in the light of the moon. He was struck with a bout of recognization as a sudden thought came into his head: _That's my child.

_But he didn't attack it. It had a familiar smell coming from it, more than just the smell of human flesh. It was the smell of a fellow werewolf. He was afraid to look into the bassinet, afraid of what he would see. But he couldn't control his muscles, they refused to obey the small portion of his mind that remained untainted. He was forced to peer into the bassinet, and upon doing so, he saw a sight that seared deep into his brain. His child was a werewolf, struggling forcefully with the bonds that tied it to its bed._

_As if compelled by some unknown force, the person on the bed jolted upright, as wide awake as they would be in the middle of the day. With his enhanced eyesight, Remus could clearly tell that the person on the bed was the one and only Tonks._

_Taking both him and her by surprise, the werewolf in Remus attacked Tonks. He could feel his sharp teeth and claws sinking into her warm flesh. There was nothing he could do to stop himself. He was completely powerless against the depths of his own body._

_Tonks fought back with an amount of strength far beyond that of what she looked to have. She was fighting for her life, for her child's life, for her husband's life. But she was no match for a werewolf._

_Eventually, she stopped moving. Inside himself, the real Remus was screaming, on and on, screaming as if the world had ended, for in his mind, it had. There was no world for him without Tonks in it._

_While he was blind with rage and pain, his body jumped over the still form of Tonks to untie his baby from the crib. Howling with joy, the werewolf in Remus ran outside into the night to raise his werewolf child as a beacon of terror._

Remus instantly sat up, sweat pouring down him as he shook violently with the memories of his dream. He could feel Tonks' reassuring and life-filled body sleeping right beside him. He looked at himself to convince his mind that he was in human form before looking out the open window that showed only a pale sliver of moon in the clear, night sky.

With a shaky sigh, he carefully got out of bed to stand by the window, as if to continuously reassure himself that it was, indeed, not a full moon. The cold air buffeting him from the open window made him shiver even more, so he retrieved his cloak from his dresser.

He had been staring out the window for quite a while before he heard movement behind him. Turning, he saw Tonks sitting up.

"Remus," she said quietly to him, "are you all right?"

"Yeah…yeah, I'm okay. Why are you up?"

"You woke me up, it's all right, though."

"Sorry. You need your rest, go back to sleep."

Tonks looked him in the eye for a few minutes, looking almost as scared as Remus felt.

Finally, he had to say, "I'm not going anywhere, you'll be fine. Now please, sweetheart, go back to sleep."

"No, I'll stay with you."

And Tonks walked in front of Remus, blocking him from the window. She pulled his arms around her waist, put her arms around his neck, and stood there staring at him. Just staring.

Remus was quite content to just stare back at her, but finally, he said, "You really shouldn't. You need your rest."

But the look she gave him clearly defied his orders. With a slight smile, Remus pulled his cloak from his shoulders and put it around her to protect her from the cold night air.

"Thanks," she said, "But really, I'm fine. You're the one who had the nightmare."

"How did you—"

"You were shaking terribly. It was shaking the entire bed. You were definitely having a nightmare. Are you all right?"

Wrapping his arms around Tonks' waist once more, Remus kissed her lightly.

"I am now."


	12. Squirt's Plan

Hello, people, we're back with yet another chapter. Thank you for the reviews. You can't imagine how happy they made us. Well, maybe you can… but still, they made us extremely happy. Oh, and to answer a couple of questions, _I_ like Hermione, but it's Jewel who creates the story. I just do her bidding. And if she needs a character to carry on the plot, carry on they shall.

Ok, so now that we've gotten that over and done with, we're gonna have a little fun in this chapter. It might get a little crazy, though, because it's in Dylan's point of view. And that there should explain all of the mayhem. Oh, and it's extremely long, but we hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: La dee da, We don't own nuthin but Dylan and those few from her life, and we aren't JK Rowling. Is it even mandatory to provide a disclaimer nowadays? Oh well, better safe than sorry.

**Ch. 12 – Squirt's Plan**

_Dylan supposed that she was dreaming and she was not very happy with her brain's choice of a dream, either. Anything would have been better than this. For, as she looked on, she witnessed the events of her father's death, playing out before her exactly as they had happened. She knew what the scene looked like, having been subject to Harry and Snape's memories while they had explained what happened._

_She continuously altered between the eyesight of Harry and Snape as the scene unfolded. Watching out of Harry's eyes, feeling his rage surge, Dylan saw her father, Dumbledore, being hit with the _Avada Kedavra_ curse, before falling over the side of the tower._

Dylan jolted awake, feeling not only her emotions through the event, but those of Snape and Harry, as well. Shaking uncontrollably, Dylan glared at her hand, willing it to stop the involuntary shuddering. It refused to listen. Annoyed, she checked her face for tears, but there were none. There never were anymore. At least, not on the outside.

"Morning!" Ginny said cheerfully from across the room, despite the fact that the fiery red head was anything but cheerful.

If Dylan had been any other person, the greeting would have startled her. However, she was Dylan, and she had caught a tendril of thought coming from Ginny shortly before she spoke. Currently, Ginny was concerned about Dylan because she was far too pale and far too frightened looking.

Dylan gave her a reassuring smile as the color returned to her face. Ginny found it acceptable and returned to her continuous thoughts about Harry. She missed being with him. For a short period of time, the world had been perfect and she finally had the guy she had been after for so long. And then, Voldemort had to come back into the picture.

Suppressing a smile, Dylan heard Ginny silently cussing out Voldemort in her thoughts. She knew that her friend was unable to deal with the pain of having lost her boyfriend, especially now that they were under the same roof. So, Dylan had suggested a plan. _Quite a genius plan, actually,_ Dylan thought.

Ginny had moved on from her berating of Voldemort to worrying about the plan.

"It's okay, Ginny," Dylan consoled her, "I'm positive that my plan will work."

"I really wish you would stop doing that," Ginny said, thinking, _It's so annoying how she always knows what I'm going to say and whatever I'm thinking. It's so rude of her to just barge into my thoughts and listen in._

"Sorry," Dylan apologized, "but it's very hard to stop an old habit."

"You were doing it again, weren't you?"

"No!" Dylan shouted back a little too quickly.

"Good! So, now the plan. I'm still not too sure about it… I don't know, I just think it'll make things worse."

"No, it won't," Dylan reassured her, "believe me, it will work. There's no way that it can't."

"But… you don't know him that well yet."

"Oh, but I do. I've seen some of his memories, heard some of his stories, and I've heard his thoughts. It'll work. Better than it would with some."

"Alright… if you say so," Ginny conceded, looking at the clock on the wall. Then, she thought, _He'll be here soon, maybe I should get ready. But what should I wear? I don't want to look like a complete mess, but I don't want to look too nice, either._

"But that might help," Dylan said, as if Ginny had been talking straight to her.

"Would you please stop that!"

"I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request."

Ginny rolled her eyes and began shuffling through her clothes to find something suitable to wear for the day ahead.

Dylan offered, "You could always borrow something of mine if—"

"Yes, yes, I know, just as long as I magic it back to your size."

"Correct!" Dylan shouted happily, glad that she had been listening while she had rambled on last night.

_But what should I wear? _Ginny thought, overwhelmed by the amount of clothes they each had combined.

"I can help," Dylan willingly offered.

"All right, just please stop doing that."

"I can try, but there's no promises."

"It's just really eerie to think that there could be someone intruding on my thoughts without my knowledge."

"Oh, like…" Dylan screwed her face up in concentration for a second, "…right now, Harry's just waking up and he's thinking about falling back to sleep so he doesn't have to endure another day watching you and not being able to do anything."

"Are you serious?"

"Oh yeah. It's all true."

"Hmm…" Ginny thought for a second, "well, I suppose the whole mind reading thing is pretty cool. Just, stop using it on me. And, try not to use it too much on Harry. For all we know, he can tell when you're in his head, he's had more training than us."

"Hey," Dylan said, holding up an outfit that she had just pulled out of her wardrobe, "what about this?"

"No!" Ginny said, thinking, _What, does she think I'm a whore?_

"No, of course I don't, this _is_ my outfit, after all."

"You did it again."

"Sorry. Hey, what about this?" Dylan held up a simple outfit of jeans and a tank top.

Ginny gave it a scrutinizing look before shaking her head no. "I was actually thinking something a little more…"

"Oh, ok," Dylan said, digging through her things once again. Finally, she pulled out a floral skirt of medium length that was made up of bright pinks and oranges, followed by a bright pink tank top.

"That might work, but—"

"You can magic the colors."

"Then it's perfect!" Ginny said as she took the clothes from Dylan.

"Oh, and how about these shoes?" Dylan asked as she held up a pair of extremely tall high heels.

"Um…" Ginny said, giving Dylan a look that clearly said 'Are you kidding?'

"Ok… well, how about these?" Dylan said, holding up a pair of dark blue flip-flops.

"All right, I have an outfit. Now, to get it resized…" Ginny said, walking out the door in search of someone who currently had their magic and who was not underage.

When Ginny came back to their room, she was fully dressed in the outfit of dark blues and purples, looking very nice. Dylan had taken the time to change into a comfortable outfit (jeans and her I heart NY shirt) and had thrown her still-black hair into a sloppy ponytail.

"Oh no you don't!" Ginny said, looking over Dylan's outfit. "If I'm gonna dress up nice, I'm not doing it alone. You've got to as well."

Dylan pouted at her in an attempt to get her way, but Ginny's stern look won out. Dylan left the room to come back dressed in a nice, yet extremely gothic, outfit.

"Happy?" Dylan asked, looking longingly at her New York T-shirt.

"Happier," Ginny gave Dylan an innocent smile.

Dylan proceeded to put on an excessive amount of gothic jewelry and makeup to complete her outfit, before deeming herself ready to go downstairs.

"Are you ready to go, yet?" Ginny asked, getting nothing but a blank stare from Dylan who seemed to be acting rather strange suddenly.

Dylan had just sensed new people within the house, people whose thoughts felt slightly familiar even while she was sure she had never sensed them before.

"Hello? Earth to Dylan," Ginny tried to get her attention, to no avail.

Dylan had her attention focused on the newcomers to see if they were friend or foe. After what she had been hearing lately about people wanting to kill her, she didn't exactly have a warm and fuzzy feeling about new people near her.

She tried to focus on their thoughts, however, it took a lot more concentration due to the fact that these new people were downstairs and not within the same room as her. It also didn't help that Ginny's frantic thoughts kept drowning out the much more delicate ones of the new people.

_Oh no, she's gone mental! _Ginny thought over and over again

"Will you stop thinking?" Dylan asked Ginny.

"How am I supposed to stop thinking? And… why?"

"I can't concentrate with you thinking."

"And how does that affect anything?"

"I'm trying to _concentrate_!"

"On what?" Ginny asked curiously.

"There's people in the house. Now stop thinking!"

Dylan got a few precious seconds of concentrating before Ginny finally realized what Dylan had just said. Then, many extremely paranoid thoughts of Ginny's came tumbling into Dylan's head.

_There's people? _Ginny thought frantically, _What kind of people? Death Eaters? Oh no! They've come to kill us all! And Harry! Oh, the plan! Oh no, will he be mad? And… oh, there's people in the house! They're gonna kill us all. They might try to kill me. Would Harry save me? Does he like me enough to save me? But I don't even want to be saved. What, does he think I'm some damsel in distress? Maybe I shouldn't be wearing a skirt, it makes me look like too much of a girly-girl. And how could I fight Death Eaters in a skirt? _

At this point, or shortly thereafter, Dylan burst out laughing, her concentration having been thrown out of the window.

"The skirt's fine," Dylan told Ginny.

"Will you stop looking around in my head, and start looking around in the strangers'?"

"I was trying, but you were thinking too loud, so stop!"

Ginny glared at Dylan while Dylan blanked out again to rummage around in the new peoples' heads. After only a few seconds, Dylan got the answers she was looking for.

"How many brothers do you have, Ginny?"

"What?" Ginny asked rather bewildered.

"Well, your oldest brother," Dylan paused to reach into Ginny's mind as the redhead suddenly thought of the name of her oldest brother, "Bill, and his girlfriend," Dylan paused again, "Phlegm…wait, why don't we like her? Oh, never mind. Way too many thoughts there."

Ginny opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Dylan saying, "Yes, yes, you want me to get out of your mind."

"But…"

"Yeah, I'm still in there. Anyways, there's also another brother of yours…" Dylan paused again, "Charlie, is it?"

"Yeah, but…" Ginny was rather confused.

"It's starting to freak you out that I know what you're thinking, isn't it?"

"Yeah, so stop doing it!"

"Sorry, but it is rather helpful."

"So," Ginny asked, "Bill and Charlie are here?"

"And Phlegm."

"Right, well, let's go downstairs, then."

"So they aren't Death Eaters?" Dylan asked as the girls headed outside of their room.

"No! Wait, wouldn't you already know from my thoughts?"

"Yeah, but I wanted to see your reaction," Dylan said, amused, but Ginny was no longer interested in the conversation, for she was busy running down the stairs.

Dylan moved to the balcony overlooking the living room to witness the scene that unfolded before her.

Bill and Phlegm were sitting on the couch while Charlie stood next to a Wizarding Wireless, flipping through the stations. Ginny stood on the second-to-last step before the bottom of the staircase, staring at her older brothers with a look of utmost respect.

When he noticed her, Charlie immediately stopped what he was doing to greet Ginny enthusiastically. He ran over to the stairs where Ginny jumped into his arms to be spun rapidly around until they reached the center of the living room and Charlie finally set her down on her feet.

"Charlie, Bill, how long have you been here?" Ginny asked, unable to get rid of the broad smile across her face.

"Oh, only a bit," Charlie answered quickly, before saying, "Wow, just look at how much you've grown, Squirt! Look!" Charlie spun Ginny around to show her off to Bill.

Dylan couldn't help but hear some of the thoughts floating around the room. Apparently, Charlie had called Ginny "squirt" for as long as he could remember, it was just his name for her. Dylan got the feeling of many memories between these three, and an extreme sense of affection from the brothers for their little sister and visa versa. Bill and Charlie also had a very strong sense of protection for Ginny. Dylan had the feeling that either one of them would willingly die to save their sister that they deemed a miracle.

"Yeah, Gin, you've really grown a lot! I can't believe it, our little sister, almost a woman," Bill replied, looking Ginny over.

The three siblings were both laughing silently when Bill called Ginny "Gin." They always found it hilarious that Ginny's name could be shortened further to the name of Bill's favorite alcoholic beverage.

For a while, Dylan watched Bill and Charlie fuss over Ginny. Eventually, a good upbeat song came over the Wizarding Wireless and Charlie began to dance with Ginny. Bill joined in with Phlegm, which by the way, Dylan thought was a very strange name.

Dylan recognized a very familiar mind coming from behind her. She had been paying so much attention to the scene below her that she hadn't noticed his presence as quickly as she normally might have. However, she still noticed Fred before he could even approach the landing that she was on.

He came up next to her to look over the railing. Noticing that everyone below was dancing, and taking into account the fact that Dylan was looking fairly lonely, an idea popped into Fred's head. And, of course, Dylan knew of it before he could voice it. She was never surprised. She knew that he was about to ask her to dance.

"May I have this dance?" Fred asked, acting the polite gentleman.

"Why of course," Dylan said, being gently pulled down the stairs by Fred.

Everybody danced for a while, enjoying the break from their usual boredom in the House of Black. While Dylan was dancing with Fred, she felt a new presence enter the room. It was Mrs. Weasley, closely followed by Tonks. However, there was no sign of their recent feud over Tonks and Remus sharing a room.

Curious, Dylan riffled through their memories a bit until she found one in particular. Apparently, this morning, Mrs. Weasley had apologized to Tonks and Lupin, saying that she had only been voicing what was best for her children. They came to an agreement of sorts, and finally, Tonks and Remus were allowed to share a room unopposed. But they were to enforce good morals among the children of the house, something that Tonks did not plan to do, but she refrained from voicing it openly.

This took Dylan only a few seconds to discover, and all the while she continued dancing happily with Fred.

"Boys," Mrs. Weasley said happily to her two eldest sons, "I didn't expect you until this evening!"

"Yeah," Charlie stopped dancing with Ginny to give his mother a fond hug, "we were able to get off earlier than we thought."

"Well that's terrific! I'll go get some breakfast, you must be starving."

"Are we ever!" Bill said as he stopped dancing, too, his eyes lighting up with the thought of food.

Smiling, Mrs. Weasley beckoned, "Ginny, dear, why don't you come help me in the kitchen for a while?"

"But—" Ginny looked back at Charlie, silently pleading him to hold her back.

"Go on, Squirt," he said with an amused look, "we'll catch up later. I'll be here all weekend."

Ginny looked like she was about to defy him for a second before she decided that this was Charlie, and he was one of the very few people in the world that she just couldn't defy. So Ginny left the room to follow her mother's path to the kitchen.

As Ginny left, Charlie turned to Tonks who was still standing there, taking in her surroundings.

"Wotcher, Charlie!" Tonks greeted him with a smile.

"Hey, how've you been?" Charlie asked. Dylan could tell from his thoughts and memories that he and Tonks had known each other from Hogwarts. They had been in the same year, and while not quite the best of friends, they were still close.

"I've been pretty good, and you?"

"Never better. Would you care to dance?"

"Oh…uh… sure," Tonks allowed herself to be led to the center of the room.

As they began to dance, a slower paced song came over the Wizarding Wireless. By mutual consent, Fred and Dylan stopped dancing while Bill and Phlegm began to dance once more.

The song had only gone on for a few seconds before Remus appeared at the top of the stairs. Dylan seemed to be the only one that noticed him, but she knew that he was coming well before he ever appeared. Remus remained rooted to the spot, looking over the scene below him while Dylan silently laughed at the situation, being able to view it from all sides.

_Wow, Remus and Tonks are really amusing, _Dylan thought. _He loves her, she loves him. She wants to marry him, but only so long as he wants to, and not because he feels obligated to. He wants to marry her, but he can't find a way to show her that it's only because he loves her. Oh yeah, very amusing couple. Oh, and it just got better, too. Now Remus is jealous of Charlie. Heh, he finds him rather threatening due to the fact that he and Tonks are about the same age, and they have a history. But Charlie has absolutely no interest in Tonks nor does Tonks in Charlie. They gave that up quite a while ago. Now they're just old friends._

Noticing Dylan staring so intently at him, Lupin gave her an accusing look, only to receive a completely innocent one in response. _That girl is trouble incarnate,_ he thought with a shake of his head, making Dylan laugh out loud as she caught the thought wave.

The laugh seemed to catch Tonks' attention and she glanced over at Dylan. Noticing Dylan's gaze, she followed it to find Remus.

"Thanks, Charlie," she said rather distracted as she immediately stopped dancing.

"No problem."

Tonks walked over to the bottom of the stairs, gave the staircase an evil glare, and then extended her hand towards Remus.

"Ladies choice," she said with the sweet smile that she reserved just for him.

Dylan knew that Tonks would have gladly walked up the stairs for Remus, except for the fact that she was now deadly scared of stairs. Falling down the stairs and losing her baby was now one of her worst fears.

Remus looked at Tonks for a few seconds before descending down to her, taking her own hand in his.

"I would love to dance with you, Tonks," Remus said, pulling her further into the living room.

They danced to the remainder of the slow song and partway into another before Mrs. Weasley came back into the room to summon them to breakfast.

Phlegm offered, "Would you like me to wake ze others, Molly?"

"No, that's quite all right, Ginny was going to do that for me."

As if on cue, Ginny appeared at her mothers side to say stiffly, "Yes, Fleur, I can do it."

Mrs. Weasley led the others into the kitchen while Ginny walked towards the stairs. Dylan hadn't moved, though.

"Would you like to help me?" Ginny asked politely.

"Sure! Anyways, I have a few questions."

"Okay, ask away," Ginny said, leading the way towards Ron and Harry's room.

"So Phlegm also goes by Fleur?"

Ginny was rather taken aback for a few seconds before she answered slowly, "Fleur is her name, I just call her Phlegm out of spite."

"Oh, ok. That would explain why I could only get the name 'Phlegm' out of your thoughts. And why don't we like her?"

"Because she's not good enough for Bill," Ginny stated simply.

"You really like Bill and Charlie, don't you?"

"Yes, they've always been there for me; they've always been these heroic figures that I've idolized. They were my favorite brothers."

"Were?"

"Bill has Phlegm now," Ginny turned away from Dylan to stare maliciously at the nearest inanimate object, silently taking her rage out on it. However, turning away did nothing to stop Dylan from noticing her emotions; Dylan was subject to her very thoughts and memories.

"He still cares a lot for you. Both Bill and Charlie do."

"How do you know?" Ginny asked, turning to face Dylan once more.

Dylan's only reply was to tap the side of her head twice.

"Oh, that's right…" Ginny was silent for a moment, "What did they think about me?"

"Oh, so it's all right that I poke into other peoples' minds, just not yours?"

"Pretty much."

"Ok," Dylan said, satisfied for the moment. "Well, Bill thinks that you've grown up to become quite a beautiful young lady."

"Yes, he would think that. And Charlie?"

"He agrees with Bill. He also thinks that outfit is way too suggestive."

Ginny laughed quietly as they reached the door to Harry and Ron's bedroom. Knocking on the door, she said forcefully, "Ron, Harry, time to get up! Breakfast!"

"Gwray," Ron muttered loud enough to be heard through the door.

"If you want me to obey a command, you should voice it in a language understood by intelligent creatures. Not all of us are as simple minded as you, Ron," Ginny said louder, still speaking through the door as to avoid any unwanted views of her brother and awkward views of Harry.

"I said go away!" Ron yelled very clearly and angrily.

"Oh, ok, so that's what you said. Well, sorry, but I can't do that. I'm supposed to be fetching you two for breakfast."

"It's too early, now go away."

"Oh, but I thought it was never too early for breakfast."

"It is. You've found the impossible. Good for you. Now let me sleep before I curse you."

"You will not," Harry said, sounding rather sleepy and yet not at all defiant at being woken up.

"And why would you care? It's not like you're dating her anymore."

"That doesn't mean I don't still care for her. Anyways, she's your sister, you can't curse her."

"Oh, and where in the rule book is that? Clearly, you've never had siblings."

"Oh really? You think? I'm kind of missing parents, too," Harry said, his tolerance for Ron in the morning clearly shattered.

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds and Dylan knew that both boys were glaring at each other from their own beds.

"Well, anyways," Ron said, amending the silence, "I'll curse Ginny if she doesn't leave me bloody well alone."

"Then," Ginny said, still outside the door, "I'll just go tell Charlie and Bill, who are downstairs by the way…"

The door burst open magically as Ron ran towards it, yelling, "No, wait! I didn't mean it! I'm coming!"

"Good!" Ginny said, smiling mischievously.

With the door open, the girls noticed that both boys were in nothing but their boxers.

"This is why I left the door closed. Perhaps you should get dressed first," Ginny suggested, averting her eyes from the boys.

Ron blushed a brilliant shade of red as he fumbled around to find some clothes. While doing so, however, he berated Ginny for not telling him that his older brothers had arrived.

Avoiding Ginny's gaze, Harry quickly got dressed and still managed to keep some level of peace between the two siblings.

"Aww, is poor little Ronnie-kins afraid of his big brothers?" Ginny mocked in a baby voice.

With this comment, Ron snapped, grabbed his pillow, and threw it quite hard at Ginny. However, with his quick reflexes, a still-shirtless Harry was able to step over and catch the pillow seconds before it hit Ginny.

"Ron, if you continue being this childish, _I_ might have to have a talk with your big brothers," Harry said, fed up with Ron's behavior.

"Hey, mate, that is _way_ below the line."

"Then get let's get dressed and go down to breakfast without any bloodshed. Or even bruises."

Ron glared at Harry for a moment before they both finished getting dressed. Dylan had been quite entertained by the goings on before her. After Harry's display of heroism while missing a top, Dylan came to realize exactly why Ginny wanted Harry back so badly. He was hot.

Ginny must have noticed Dylan staring at Harry, for she leaned over and whispered to Dylan, "Mine."

"Yes, I know, I was only looking. Oh, and by the way, he really likes that skirt."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah."

After collecting a fully dressed Harry and Ron, the girls went to wake the rest of the household, including a very disoriented George who was astounded that Fred had woken up without him. As the group went into the kitchen, Dylan departed to walk outside, saying that she was going to wait for her friend, Nick, who had been cleared by the Order and given permission to be allowed on premises. After much persuasion from Dylan, of course. She was surprisingly good at blackmailing people, due to her accessibility to everybody's innermost secrets. So now, her friend was coming from New York to bring Dylan her dog, Salazar.

Dylan was only outside for a few moments before Nick walked around the corner, Salazar by his side. He was the same dog that she had left behind in New York, and Salazar hadn't changed, either. Salazar was a very large, menacing German Shepherd that ran over to Dylan and laid down on her feet in welcome. Nick had his usual dirty blonde, gelled hair with an outfit of simple jeans and a t-shirt that said "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy", his favorite tv show. Oh, yeah, Nick was gay. But not exactly flaming gay, he could pass for straight quite well.

"Did you have to wear that shirt?" Dylan asked as he came up to her.

"Does it even matter?" Nick replied, giving Dylan a hug in greeting.

"Well, yeah, Harry needs to think you're straight."

"Oh, fine, I'll change shirts," Nick rummaged in his small bag, pulled out a New York shirt, and switched shirts right there. "Happy?"

"Yup! You know, I've missed you, Nick."

"And we've all missed you. New York isn't the same without you there."

"Well, I would certainly hope it isn't. By the way, thanks for bringing Salazar."

"No problem. I've always wanted to come to England."

Dylan led Nick into the kitchen, Salazar trailing behind them. Everyone stopped what he or she was doing to stare at the dog that looked like he could easily snap a person's leg in half. Salazar stepped in front of Dylan and barked intimidatingly at the people, clearly trying to protect Dylan.

"It's okay, Salazar, these are good people," Dylan told him with a stern look. The dog obeyed by walking over to the nearest person, Harry, and licking him kindly before lying down next to him.

"So that's Salazar," Dylan said, inwardly laughing at Harry's thoughts about her dog, "And this here is Nick. Now let's eat."

So Dylan and Nick sat down to eat a bit of breakfast. Dylan noticed that Snape was sitting at the table with the rest of the Order members present. Ginny was sitting right between Charlie and Bill, having an intricate discussion with both of them.

After a while, Snape stood up and began to walk to the door, however, Dylan stopped him.

"Where ya goin'?" she asked as she stood up to walk over him.

"I am leaving this cursed place, finally. I have business to attend to."

"Oh thank God, you're leaving! Hey, weird question, do you have your wand with you?"

"No… I believe it's still up in my room. Why?" Snape said, rather taken aback. He tried to figure out what she was up to, however, he couldn't use legilimency on her for some reason. All he found was a wall… of various chocolate bars. Either way, she seemed to be quite a powerful occlumens, something that really stumped him.

Dylan took his lapse of attention to her advantage as she quickly kicked him very hard in the shin. "That's why!" She said as she was overcome with laughter. "I've been meaning to do that for _so_ long now."

"Why you little…" Snape fumbled around for his wand, before realizing that he didn't have it, just as he had told Dylan only a few seconds ago. Giving her a piercing death glare, he growled and stalked out of the room.

The whole room burst out in laughter as he left. Including Nick.

After the laughter had died down, Mrs. Weasley asked, "So, Nick, do you plan on staying a while?"

"No, actually, I was just about to leave. I plan to do some sightseeing while I'm over here in England. It's not everyday a guy gets to come here."

"Well, you're welcome to stay if you would like to."

"No thanks, I think I'll just use the bathroom and be on my way."

"Ok, well, Ginny dear, why don't you show him where the bathroom is?"

"Sure thing, Mum," Ginny agreed, getting up to lead Nick out of the kitchen.

Before they could be roped into breakfast clean up, Harry, Ron, the twins, and Dylan left to go watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail on her DVD player.

"Harry," Dylan said as they went upstairs, "why don't you go get Ginny for the movie, and could you see if Nick is still here?"

"Oh, uh, sure," Harry said, leaving to go search the house for Ginny and Nick.


	13. Squirt's Plan in Action

This chapter is in Harry's point of view, wow, finally. We've kind of been ignoring him, and to think, in a Harry Potter story? Well, yeah, he was lost but now he's been found. But not really. 

Disclaimer: Dylan and Nick are our only possessions, despite Salazar of course, and, while we may aspire to become JK Rowling, as of yet, we have not quite mastered the art of transfiguration.

**Ch. 13 – Squirt's Plan in Action**

Before they could be roped into breakfast clean up, Harry, Ron, the twins, and Dylan left to go watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail on Dylan's DVD player.

"Harry," Dylan said as they went upstairs, "why don't you go get Ginny for the movie, and could you see if Nick is still here?"

"Oh, uh, sure," Harry said, leaving to go search the house for Ginny and Nick.

His first stop was to find Ginny, so he headed towards her room. As he walked down the hall, he noticed that the door was open, so he peered inside. And he didn't like what he saw.

Harry had a clear view of Ginny sitting on her bed, being snogged by none other than Dylan's friend, Nick.

Stunned, the only thought that could register in Harry's mind was, _What is that idiot doing to _my_ girl?_

However, it didn't take long before the shock was replaced with a level of rage that Harry had never yet experienced in all of the events of his life thus far. And that was saying something.

Ginny noticed Harry and she stopped kissing Dylan's traitorous friend and she abruptly stood up. Harry thought it all the better that she was out of the way, for now his rage clouded all sensible thought as he began to beat Nick senseless. Harry planned to make him pay for what he had done to Ginny.

Ginny merely stepped out of the way for a few seconds, a satisfied grin creeping onto her face. She noticed Nick putting up quite a fight against Harry, and yet, Harry's rage seemed to be fueling him with an unbelievable fighting ability.

Ginny heard a noise coming from the door and she whipped around to see what was there. Ron stood in the doorway, a look of utter confusion on his face.

"Harry?" he asked, but Harry either didn't hear him, or decided to ignore him.

"Harry!" Ron shouted, "_HARRY!_" Harry stopped punching Nick to turn to his best friend, still keeping a firm grip on Nick's shirt collar. "What are you doing?" Ron asked him, clearly thinking that Harry needed a little trip to the insane asylum.

"He…HE WAS SNOGGING GINNY!" Harry yelled, his eyes radiating a powerful hatred.

At once, Ron joined Harry as he began to pummel Nick again. As he was beating the guy up, and getting a few injuries on his own behalf, Harry noticed that Ginny wasn't trying to stop either him or Ron. Racking his brain for a circumstance in which that could ever happen, Harry only came up with the thought that this guy must have been forcing himself on Ginny. That only increased Harry's rage, so he began to hit Nick even harder.

Well, the fight seemed to have gotten quite loud by now, and so eventually, some more people showed up. Dylan came casually waltzing around the corner and into the room to stand by Ginny as she tried to refrain from laughing, most likely due to some of the murderous thoughts going through Harry's mind.

Shortly after Dylan came in, Fred and George entered, as well. They never missed a fight.

"Oh, brilliant, a fight!" they said simultaneously.

However, due to their better judgment, or perhaps just their unwillingness to be accused of being involved with a fight, they reluctantly tried to pull Harry and Ron off of Nick.

"Calm down, you two," Fred said as he put all of his effort into getting Harry off of Nick.

George struggled with Ron away from the American, "Could you kindly tell us why you're beating the crap out of this guy?"

"He was forcing himself on Ginny!" Harry shouted as he struggled to get out of Fred's hold.

"HE WAS WHAT?" both twins yelled at once, simultaneously letting go of Harry and Ron to run into the fray themselves, closely followed by Harry and Ron once again.

It hadn't been but a few seconds before Dylan yelled over the noise, "No, stop, STOP!" However, the guys chose to ignore her yelling to pay more attention to their target. "Oi ve! I don't think I have that much on me…" she mumbled to Ginny as she began to frantically check her pockets for money.

"Hey Ron," George pulled his little brother up to say something to him over the noise of the fight, "go get Bill and Charlie to teach this idiot a lesson."

Ron made to move, but Dylan's screams stopped him.

"STOP IT, EVERYONE!" Dylan yelled, this time putting the force of her power behind her yelling so that the command not only echoed through the room, but through the boys' minds, as well.

Everyone abruptly stopped what he or she was doing in order to figure out why Dylan was yelling and why everyone's brains were suddenly overwhelmed with a single command that refused to allow them to do anything other than obey it.

"Well, that's much better," Dylan said as she pulled up Nick, inspected him, and dragged him back over to where she had previously been standing beside Ginny. "I believe we have some explaining to do, Ginny."

"Yeah, you see, Nick wasn't forcing himself on me. I kissed him willingly."

"You _what_?" Harry said, completely astounded at Ginny's behavior while at the same time he felt as if his whole world had turned upside down.

Harry wouldn't accept the fact that Ginny didn't like him any more, and he couldn't stand to see her with anybody but him. He would rather her be with him and in danger of Voldemort than be with somebody else where Harry would have to suffer. He thought it rather Slytherin-ish of himself, but he couldn't help it. This wasn't a material belonging he was talking about, this was Ginny. There was no replacement for her, and he could never forgive himself if somebody else took her while he was busy acting the noble gentleman.

"Um…" Ginny looked guiltily at Harry, seeing the pain etched across his face. "Dylan, would you like to explain?"

"Sure! Ok, so we—"

"You," Ginny cut in.

"Yes, _I_ came up with this awesome, full-proof plan because, well, I couldn't stand the two of you pining for each other any longer. I mean, seriously, all you two do is think of how you can't be with each other, and it's getting really annoying. So I decided that when Nick came, he'd help us out a bit. We—oh, I, that is—thought that I'd help you to discover your true feelings for Ginny. They've been in your head all along, you're just too dim-witted to see them for yourself. Oh, and Harry, you'll be glad to know that Nick is gay."

A stunned silence reverberated throughout the room while Dylan's brief explanation fully sunk in.

"So, wait," Harry said, collecting his thoughts, "this—this was all just a ploy? A ploy to get us back together?"

"I…I'm sorry, Harry," Ginny said, walking over to stand in front of Harry. I shouldn't have listened to her, I—,"

"No, Ginny," Harry cut her off.

"I…I'll just be…" Ginny began to turn around to leave, when Harry grabbed her shoulder to keep her rooted to the spot.

"_No_, Ginny."

"I really am sorry, but—"

"Don't apologize."

"But—"

"If anyone should be apologizing, Ginny, it's me. I've been stupid, and you're right, what I've been doing to you is not fair. It doesn't matter if you're in danger with me or not, you already are just by living. Anyways, I don't want to lose you to some stupid guy like _him._" Harry nodded over in Nick's direction.

"Hey, I—" Nick began to say, however, Dylan had her hand already over his mouth and whispered to him, "Come on, let's go outside."

"Yeah," Fred said, "George 'n me, we'll go reassure the "grown-ups" that the noise was nothing."

Fred and George left, along with Dylan and Nick, leaving only Harry, Ginny, a proudly beaming Hermione, and a very furious Ron.

"I'm sorry, Ginny," Harry said to her, a hand now on each of her shoulders.

"No, it's okay, Harry. You were doing what you thought best for me, and I appreciate that. Just, next time, come to your senses sooner. Or I might have to interfere again."

Harry laughed for a second, glanced over at the scowling Ron in the corner, and finally turned back to Ginny.

"Ginny, will you forgive me?"

"Of course," she smiled, "Does that mean we're back together again?"

Harry didn't bother answering her; instead, he pulled her close and proceeded to kiss her.

"Hey!" Ron shouted, breaking them up, "you're breaking the rules!"

"Since when have I cared about breaking rules?" Harry asked, a wide smile spreading across his face. "Besides, this _is_ my house. I can make the rules, here. If I say Ginny and I can snog, snog we will."

"You can't do that!"

"Watch me."

"Yes," Ginny added, clearly frustrated with her brother, "watch or not, either way I don't care, just shut up."

"I'll…I'll…I'll go tell mom!"

"No you won't, or else I just might let slip to her what you and Hermione were doing last night. Now, Harry, where were we?"

Ginny kissed Harry, and both were effectively oblivious to Ron's mumblings until his voice began to rise once more.

"Argh, come on, that's disgusting! Do you not realize that is my baby sister? And you're my best mate? It's just…repulsive."

"This is me not caring," Harry said, going back to snogging Ginny.

"Fine… I'll…I'll go snog Hermione then!"

There was no response. Harry and Ginny were completely and totally absorbed with each other, ignoring everyone else.

"Come on, Ron," Hermione said, dragging her boyfriend out of the room and closing the door behind him.

Harry felt as if everything was right in the world, for about the first time in his life. He was happier than he could ever remember being. If he were to meet a dementor at this moment, it would have quite a feast of happiness, however it would never stand a chance against the patronus that he could conjure with the memory of this moment.

Harry and Ginny had been enjoying each other's presence and had completely lost track of time, when suddenly Ginny pulled away from Harry.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked. "You haven't changed your mind about us getting back together, have you?"

"No, no, of course not. I spent way too much time waiting for this moment. It's just… I forgot that Bill and Charlie were here.

"And?"

"They would kill you."

"Well, that makes us even. With this relationship, Voldemort and his Death Eaters are going to want to kill you, and your family is going to want to kill me. Pretty even, if you ask me."

"Oh, well, I don't know, it might be too dangerous for you if we're together. You know, maybe we should just stay friends," Ginny said with a mischievous smile.

"Oh haha, very funny. Not."

"I thought it was hilarious."

Ginny went back into Harry's embrace and they began to kiss again. After a while, Ginny stopped again, but this time she let Harry continue to hold onto her.

"What's wrong this time?" He asked.

"How long do you think they'll let us get away with this?"

"I'd like to think forever."

"Well, I was just thinking that we're really pushing our luck, especially considering that neither of us are very lucky people."

"Good point."

"Sorry, but I think you'd rather not have Charlie come bursting in here."

"True."

"I was having fun, though."

"So I'm not a terrible kisser?"

"Far from it! You're much better than Dean."

"Oh, well, thanks. That makes me feel _much_ better."

"Sorry," Ginny blushed violently as she realized what she had said.

"It's ok. I'm surprised that we've been able to stay away from the others for this long."

"Yeah, I wonder what they're doing? Maybe they forgot about us."

"Maybe…" However, Harry found it extremely unusual that there hadn't been some commotion in quite a while, so he found himself becoming more and more concerned that something may have happened. "I think I'll go downstairs and look around a bit. Why don't you stay here?"

"Oh no you don't!"

"What?"

"You think something is wrong, so you're going to go check it out and make me stay here out of harm's way. I'm not going to wait for you like a good little girl and while doing so miss out on all of the action. You must have me mistaken with someone else."

"Fine, you can come too, but is it such a bad thing that I don't want you to get hurt?"

"No…but…Harry, you've got to understand that just because I'm your girl now, it doesn't mean that I'm going to sit around being safe while you go off and save the world. I wanna help, too."

"I know, but I could never forgive myself if something happened to you because of me."

"Well, then maybe you should find a girl that's a less independent."

"No, that's quite all right, I rather like the one I've got," Harry slung his arm around Ginny's shoulders as they walked out the door.

As they walked down the hall, they heard noises coming from downstairs. They quietly crept to the landing of the stairs to see what was going on. Dylan's portable DVD player sat in the middle of the living room with everyone surrounding it, including the adults and a very enthusiastic muggle-loving Mr. Weasley. Apparently, they were watching an exceptionally entertaining movie.

Dylan, sitting at the back of the group, flicked her eyes up to the landing as she noticed that Harry and Ginny had come out. But Ginny put a finger over her mouth and Dylan returned her gaze to the tv screen, but not before first giving Ginny a mischievous look.

Pulling on Harry's arm, Ginny led him back down the hall so that they could talk without being acknowledged by the members of the house.

"So Dylan got everyone interested in a movie?" Harry asked Ginny

"Apparently. And by the looks of it, that was Lord of the Rings. We watched one of them last night. They're really long."

"Long?" Harry had a plan forming in his head, and apparently he had gotten a mischievous look about him because Ginny began to give him an accusing look in return.

"Yeah, there's three of them, and they're about three hours each, if not longer.

"Really?"

"You're not thinking what I'm thinking you're thinking, are you?"

"I don't know, what do you think I'm thinking?"

"I think you're thinking that we could go back to my room and make out some more and nobody would ever know."

"Wow, you're good."

"But Harry, we can't."

"And why not?"

"I don't know… my mom's rules, for one."

"Like I told Ron, this is _my_ house. I'll make the rules, and I say that snogging is allowed, at least, it is between you and me."

"Oh… alright, come on, before I change my mind."


	14. Of Rules and Magic

So far we've triumphed through the perils of end-of-school-stress and very cold weather, and finally, we've managed to get you a new chapter. Albeit, a little late. Can you ever forgive us? Please? Well, this chapter is in Tonks' POV. And reviews are always welcome.

Disclaimer: As awesome as it would be, we are not metamorphmagi. So, sadly, we can't even attempt to impersonate JK Rowling. All we ownis our few added characters and the lovely plot that Jewel came up with. Which you don't even know the half of. Nor do I, for that matter.

**Ch. 14 – Of Rules and Magic**

It had been a fairly calm day for Tonks and Remus. They caught up on Order work and had just finished watching one of the Lord of the Rings movies with Dylan. The only really exciting thing that had happened was some sort of noise that they could hear the teens creating earlier, however, the twins shortly came down to reassure them that it was nothing but a bit of fun and no harm had been done.

Seeing as it was quite late, Remus and Tonks were preparing to go to bed.

"What do you think about me getting a pet?" Tonks asked as she tried to find her pajamas.

"What?" Remus said, making sure he had heard correctly.

"Yeah, like a dog or something."

"But…why?"

"So that when you're not here it can protect me."

"But I'm always going to be here. Remember, I promised I'd never leave you."

"Well, I didn't mean that you couldn't leave my side. I only meant not for you to leave _me._ Like—"

"Yes, I understand, Tonks. But I'm still not going anywhere. Really, where else do I have to go?"

"But what about full moons?"

"Oh…yeah, that's right…" Remus looked as if he had never even thought about that before. In fact, he had, but the repurcussions were just now hitting him with full force. "I will have to leave you then, won't I?"

"Yeah, you see? If I had a dog then it could protect me while you're off howling away."

"Tonks, you're currently living in a house full of very experienced witches and wizards whom I would trust our lives. Well, that's excluding Fred and George. But I'm sure that nobody here would let any harm come to you or our baby. Besides, if you got a pet, I would end up taking care of it. Quite frankly, I already have my plate rather full of things to take care of."

"Dylan?"

"Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking when I told Severus that I could watch after her. I already have enough to do trying to keep tabs on Harry."

"You don't need to, he's not your son."

"But whose son is he? That's the thing, he has no parents, no guardians. I've taken it as my own task to give him some guidance of a sort. It's my responsibility to James. Harry is the son of my best friend who is dead, and his godfather, my other best friend, just happens to be dead as well now. Who else is there to watch after Harry?"

"Wow. You really do have a lot to take care of. Harry, Dylan, yourself…"

"You."

"Me?"

"Yes, you, Tonks, and in about eight months, there'll be a baby for me to look after, too."

"I'm sor—" Tonks was cut off.

"No, it's okay. I can handle you and a baby, I think. But you, a baby, two crazy teenagers, and a dog? Now that's insane."

"But I'll take care of the dog."

"I don't know, Tonks…"

"Please?" Tonks looked up at him with pleading, puppy dog eyes that he could only barely resist. "Besides, think about how much better you'll feel if I wasn't alone when you left for full moons."

"I think you mean how much better _you_ would feel. Tonks, are you really that scared that something is going to happen to you?"

"No…" Tonks looked very guilty as she quietly added, "just to our baby."

Seeing the look on Tonks' face, Remus once more began to feel terrible about the way that his "furry little problem" would affect Tonks in their relationship.

"Alright," he said after a few moments' silence.

"What? Really? I can get a pet?"

"Yes, you can get a pet. Anything to make you feel safe."

"Oh, thank you!" Tonks ran over, now fully clad in her pajamas, to hug Remus excitedly.

"Yeah, yeah, just try to get something small, something manageable. Okay?"

"Ok! We'll go tomorrow with Molly, she's been wanting to go to Diagon Alley for a while now to restock the house with the necessary provisions."

"I'd love to go," Remus climbed into his side of the bed, "but I can't. Harry and I are going up to the auror office."

"Oh yeah, to talk about the horkex thingies?"

"Yes, the horcruxes. We figured that if we get the aurors on them, at least the aurors that we trust, then it'll take a lot less longer to find them all."

"I think I fell asleep as you were discussing that."

"Yes, you did. How about you meet me at the auror office when you're done. We'll probably be a while, but you need to clean out your desk anyway, right?"

"What?" Confused, Tonks stared at him from her side of the bed.

"You are quiting, right?"

"Oh, yeah… I guess so…" Tonks looked very disappointed as she realized that she hadn't managed to drop of the topic of her dangerous job that they had begun discussing the other night.

"I understand that you love your job, Tonks, but I'm trying to look out for your safety and the well-being of our child."

"I know… but do I have to quit? Can't I just go on maternity leave?"

"You're going to go back after you have the baby?"

"Of course!"

"Ok, fine, ask your boss for maternity leave when you come to meet me," Remus decided to let her have her way for now, he had some time still to convince her otherwise.

"Ok. Hey, while we're out, can we get a few things from my place?"

"You still have stuff there? You've been staying here for so long, I thought that you'd have most of your stuff scattered around here."

"Of course I still have things there."

"Sure, we'll stop by your place tomorrow."

"O…k…" Tonks said between yawns.

"Tired?"

"Uh huh…"

Tonks instinctively walked towards the fireplace and pulled out her wand to kill the fire off a bit so they could go to sleep. The fire flickered a moment and then burst into a fierce flame, shooting out of the fireplace and scorching its surroundings, including the mantle, rug, and Tonks' ankle.

Remus jumped up and immediately doused the flames.

"Sorry," Tonks said, looking sheepishly at the damage.

"Are you alright?" Remus ignored her apology.

"Yeah," Tonks said, checking out the burn on her ankle. "But these pajama pants aren't."

Tonks began to move her wand in order to heal the burn, but Remus quickly grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"Let me do that," he said, easily healing the burn.

"Sorry."

"It's okay. Just try not to use your magic for a while, it doesn't seem to be very reliable lately. If there's anything you want or need, ask me, okay?"

"Ok, I'm sorry."

"You're sorry too much."

"Uh… sorry?"

Remus laughed as they climbed back into bed.

----------

Remus walked into the kitchen with the purpose of fetching breakfast for Tonks. When he returned with her meal, Tonks was sitting cross-legged on the floor, banging her wand rapidly at something that was undisdinguishable. He set their breakfast on the bed and cleared his throat to get her attention.

Tonks rapidly spun around, hiding her wand as she did so.

"I wasn't doing anything!" she said quickly as she hid it.

"Nymphadora Tonks, were you trying to use your magic?"

"Don't call me Nymphadora."

"I thought I told you not to use your magic."

"And I thought I told you not to call me Nymphadora."

"What were you trying to do?"

"Well, I, uh…I sort of ran into that vase that was on the table over there. I swear it wasn't there when I first looked! And, well…I thought I'd fix it before you came back."

Tonks stood up to reveal a pile of shattered glass pieces.

"Who cares about the vase, I could've fixed that easily," Remus said, looking sternly at Tonks. "What I really care about is you. Do you not realize that you could have seriously hurt yourself playing around with that wand of yours?"

"I wasn't playing with it. I was trying to get it to work properly."

"And you know that isn't going to happen any time soon."

"Yes, but…it never hurts to try!"

"It does if you're playing around with unreliable magic!"

"Fine, I won't do it again."

"And how do I know that you won't?"

"Cause I said so."

"Yeah, I'm afraid I'm going to need something more solid than that. Give me your wand," Remus held his open hand out towards Tonks.

"What? You can't have my wand! I'm an auror! I need that."

"You can't even use it. Now give it to me."

Tonks stared at Remus with the saddest look she could muster, and it was only by the strongest of will power that Remus could continue to stare back at her with a very stern look, his hand still held out before him.

Finally, Tonks gave in and, pouting, she handed him her wand. He grasped ahold of it to take it from her, but she refused to let go.

"Tonks," Remus said, tugging at the wand, "come on, just give it to me. It'll be all right, I promise."

"Okay," Tonks said looking very depressed, reluctantly letting go of her most prized possession.

Remus put her wand in his pocket, saying, "I'll put this somewhere safe. And don't bother trying to look for it, because I promise you that you won't be able to find it. I'll give it back once your magic returns, and no sooner."

"It's back, it's back! I can feel it!"

Remus laughed, knowing better. "Tonks, it won't be back until after the baby is born."

"Then maybe I'm going into labor!"

"Don't even joke about that. The baby wouldn't survive this early. You don't want a premature baby, do you?"

"I guess not. But I do want my magic back."

"And it will come back, eventually. Just have some patience. Now come on, let's eat and get ready for the day."

----------

Remus and Tonks emerged in the kitchen once Remus had already been inside to make sure that the pork smell had completely dissipated. The boys had gladly finished off the leftover bacon.

Molly gathered the household into the kitchen to talk to them all about what they should and shouldn't do today during their excursion to Diagon Alley.

"Now before we leave, I think we need to establish a few ground rules due to the size of our group. First of all, everyone who is under the age of 18 must be with an adult at all times, no exceptions."

Bored, Tonks found herself paying attention to the rules only to criticize them in her thoughts. _That's a good rule, but I believe Molly overlooked a few things. According to that, the twins and I are allowed to go off by ourselves. Very bad idea._

"Also," Remus added, "since Harry and Dylan are in such danger at the moment, I want them to remain not only with an adult, but with an experienced wizard that can currently control their magic. And that's a good rule for everybody to abide by. Oh, and Dylan, remember that you are to use your mother's last name, not your father's."

Tonks thought, _Exactly how many wizards are there with the last name of Dumbledore? I'd guess only one that's currently living. And she's standing right in front of me._

Molly continued, "For no reason whatsoever is anyone allowed to go in or near Knockturn Alley. And Harry dear, please don't go running off, even if you think someone is in danger. And nobody is allowed to 'lose' him, either," she looked pointedly at Tonks as she said that.

"I guess that means no acting on your hero-syndrome, mate," Ron said jokingly.

"Dylan," Remus ignored Ron's comment, speaking before Harry could retort, "I've heard some of the things that you want to do, and I strictly forbid you to voluntarily join a cult of any sort, or to voluntarily become a magical creature such as a vampire or werewolf."

Dylan had a very depressed look for a moment before she found a loophole in the rule and a mischievous look came about her.

"And I don't want you doing any of that 'involuntarily', either."

"Aww, you're taking all of the fun out of life."

"Believe me, being a werewolf is not fun."

Dylan glared at him and muttered under her breath, "Only 'cause you're no fun."

She could tell by his thoughts that he heard her but chose to ignore her only because it was the only way to drop the conversation.

"Also," Molly added to the list, "No one is allowed to bring other people back here, nor are they allowed to tell people where this house is located."

"Isn't that impossible, though, due to the Fidelius Charm?" Harry asked.

"I'm sure that you children could figure out some way around even that."

Remus said, "Due to the fact that Tonks is pregnant and unable to use her magic, I want there to be two experienced escorts with her at all times to make sure that no harm whatsoever occurs to her or our unborn child."

"Bill and I can do that," Charlie offered.

"I'd be very grateful for it," Remus told them as obvious relief spread across his lined face.

"Now," Molly said, looking in turn at each of the children, "I want all of you kids to listen to what any of the adults say and I want you to do whatever is asked of you by them in a timely manner with no fuss. It's for your own safety." She added as they all groaned, all except the twins who had roguish smiles.

"Fred and George," their mother looked sternly at them, causing their smiles to rapidly fade. "Due to your immaturity and lack of experience, you're still considered kids and I want you to listen to the adults."

"But Mum! We're outraged! How can you think that we're immature? We're very mature. Right, George?"

"Of course we are. And we've had quite enough experience during our very mature years."

"Just listen to the adults, you two."

"Alright, mum," they said in unison, both feeling very downtrodden.

"Good."

"Tonks," Remus said to her, "I'm very sorry, but even though you are an adult, you're pregnant and have hormonal imbalances that could effect your emotions and actions, so I'd feel better if you did as the kids are and do anything that the adults in our group tell you to."

Tonks realized that he was trying to tell her that she was a kid, albeit in a very offhand way. However, it still infuriated her. She was an auror, she could take care of herself!

About to offer an angry retort, she noticed the pleading look on Remus' face and was forced to reconsider.

"I'll do anything you want me to, Remus."

"Thank you," he told her quietly.

"I believe that's everything for now," Molly said, "unless there's something that you'd like to add, Remus?"

"No, I believe we can leave now."

"Alright, we're traveling by floo powder, and please make sure that you speak _clearly_. I don't want anyone coming out at the wrong fireplace. Now, why don't Remus and Harry leave first?"

Remus walked over to Tonks, and said, "Stay with Bill and Charlie, alright? And come to the auror office once you're finished at Diagon Alley."

"Ok, don't worry, I'll be fine."

Remus smiled at her and gave her a quick kiss before walking over to the fireplace and grabbing a handfull of floo powder.

Turning to Harry, he said, "Follow right after me, and make sure to speak the name _exactly_ as I do. If for some reason you end up somewhere unexpected, stay there and I'll find you. Don't leave, unless it's absolutely necessary for your survival."

Harry nodded obediently and grabbed his own handful of floo powder.

Remus threw his powder into the fire, and with a quick glance back at Tonks, he stepped into the flames saying clearly, "The Ministry of Magic."

As soon as he disappeared, Harry moved to throw his floo powder into the fire. However, Mrs. Weasley stopped him long enough to tell him to be good and to give him a tight hug. She would have kissed him on top of his head, except he had grown too tall for her to be able to reach him.

Harry proceeded to throw his floo powder in the fire, stepped in, and clearly stated his destination, just as Remus had.

"Ok," Molly said, still dictating her orders, "Bill and Charlie, you two go first. Stay there and wait for the rest of us to arrive."

They nodded and walked over towards the fireplace. One by one, each person flooed to Diagon Alley, Mrs. Weasley waiting to leave until the very last person had gone.

Once everyone had arrived safely out of the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron, Mrs. Weasley gathered the group together.

"Now, I need to restock a few supplies for the house. I want you all to stay with me. Although, Tonks, I understand that you were planning to go look for a pet?"

"Yeah. And Bill and Charlie told Remus that they'd stay with me."

Bill and Charlie had relieved looks similar to that of a criminal that had just been released out of prison.

"Alright, well I suppose you three can go then. But the rest of you are helping me."

Standing behind her mother, Ginny gave her oldest brothers a pleading look

"Mum," Charlie said, catching Ginny's silent message, "we need Ginny to come along with us."

"And why would you need her?"

"Wel, uh…" Bill answered, "you see, we aren't the greatest advice on pets, and we won't be much help to Tonks. So we need Ginny here to advise her."

"Oh, right, of course I wouldn't expect to know anything about animals. Especially considering Charlie's job."

"Yeah, well," Charlie said,using his talentat improv, "you know, Mum, I don't really know that much about domestic animals or what would be the ideal choice of a pet to keep a girl company."

"Alright, alright, you can take Ginny with you."

Ginny moved over towards Charlie, mouthing "thanks" and glancing disgustingly towards Fleur who was very excited about accompanying Molly for shopping.

"Dear mother," Fred said eloquently, "could we be graciously excused from your lovely presence to attend to pressing matters at our store?"

"Seriously, Mum," George piped in, "I don't know who's been running the store while we've been gone lately."

"Oh, I suppose. I know that you two can take care of yourselves well enough. Just be careful."

"We always are," they said seriously. Standingon opposite sides of their mother, they each kissed her on a cheek.

As the twins left, Ginny noticed that Dylan was standing in the midst of the group, attempting to catch Ginny's eye.

"Hey," Ginny suggested, "why doesn't Dylan come with us? I mean, she knows me best and I'd hate to leave her alone and feeling like an outcast."

"Yeah," Charlie added, "and we'd be suitable gaurds for her."

"Alright, she can go with you, too."

Looking around at the groups that they'd formed, Tonks noticed that the majority of people were with her. All that was left with Molly were Fleur, Hermione, and Ron. Apparently, Ron noticed this, too.

"Hey! You aren't gonna make me go shopping while they all get to have fun looking at pets, are you?"

"Oh but Ron," Ginny told him, "who's going to carry everything for them if they don't have you to do it?"

"Oh, that's a very good point," Molly said.

"Ginny!" Ron shouted. Ginny's response was a verymischievous smile directed at him. "Ugh, Mum, can't I go with the others?"

"No, I think we need your help more than they do."

"Besides," Hermione said, making Tonks jump. She had almost forgotten that Hermione was even there. "You wouldn't want to leave me all alone, would you, Ron?" Hermione told him, putting a very meaningful tone to her words and adding to it a look that told Ron to stay with her or he would die a very painful death.

"Oh, um, of course not. I'll stay with you, Hermione."

Tonks had to supress a laugh. She knew who was the boss in that relationship.

"Ok, good," Molly said. "So it's settled. When you lot are done, you're to escort Tonks to the Ministry to meet up with Remus and Harry. Then at noon, we'll all meet for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. You can go now. But be careful, and remember to follow the rules!"


	15. Pets and Cults

Short chapter cause I'm Taela on vacation right now and spending the holidays with my family. And there are semester exams to factor in, as well. But this new laptop we got is really helpful. I can write on the road now. So awesome. Well, this chapter is following Tonks around still. Read and enjoy, and perhaps review?

Aloha(me Jewel here) because Taela is in Misery (Missouri) on vaca to visit her family for x-mas (and she has no real internet connection to speak of ) has ask me to putup this ch (ya i barelymanaged to do this i am SOOOO not a computer person thats Taela) So yep i did as she asked and here it is! Read and Review! and Happy Holidays to all!

Disclaimer: We are not JK Rowling and do not own Harry Potter or associated characters/places. Although we are so obsessed with it that we can't even go through an exam without being reminded of it. The scantron was telling me to make dark marks! I think the Death Eaters have taken over the schooling systems.

**Ch 15 – Pets and Cults**

"So, where should we go first?" Charlie asked Tonks.

"Well, I don't know. Maybe we should ask the 'domestic pet expert' over there." Tonks replied, mocking Charlie's quick lie from earlier.

"I'm no help on pets," Ginny raised her hands in surrender. "I just wanted to get away from Fleur."

"I resent that!" Bill told her.

"You already know how I feel about her."

"That doesn't mean that I'm happy about it."

Ginny stuck her tongue out at her older brother.

Intervening, Charlie said, "I know of a few places we can start at. Come on."

Charlie led the way down Diagon Alley, leading them straight into a pet store. Tonks spent a while looking around, however, she couldn't find a pet that she liked.

"What are you looking for?" Charlie asked. "Maybe we could help."

"Well, I want something that can protect me."

"A dog?"

"Dylan already has a dog. I can't get a dog if Dylan has one."

"Okay, well, that doesn't leave you with too many options for something that's protective."

"I know, that's where I'm having trouble."

"What about a crup?"

"That's basically a dog, and I'd have way too much trouble trying to control it around Muggles."

"True. I'm not sure how protective they are, but there's always fwoopers."

"Oooh, those are the really colorful birds, right?"

"Yeah, but you have to keep them silenced, because their song can be fatal to a person's mentality."

"Yeah, next pet please."

"Jarveys are fun. They're like overgrown ferrets, but they shout rude words at will."

"As cool as that would be, I don't think Remus would like that too much."

"You've got a good point there. Well, my last suggestion is a kneazle. They're like cats, they make good companions, they can detect suspicious people, and they can lead their owners home if they're lost."

"That sounds almost perfect, but I think that's what Hermione has."

"Really?" Charlie showed interest at that. He had a fetish for magical creatures.

"Yeah, it's a weird little cat. Besides, I don't really want a cat. You've only been listing magical creatures, what about muggle pets?"

"I'm not as educated with muggle animals."

"I have a suggestion!" Dylan said.

"And what would that be?" Charlie asked.

"Well, I'm not sure if they'll have any here."

-------------

Tonks rather liked Dylan's suggestion, and as she had predicted, that store hadn't carried any. It took them quite a while to find one that did. But finally, Tonks was at the counter, buying her new pet that she happened to be quite ecstatic about. Charlie had his doubts, but if he had learned anything while going to school with Tonks, it was that once she had her mind set to something, there was no letting go of the idea.

Charlie was standing a ways back, close enough to Tonks to protect her in case of an emergency, but far enough to not smother her freedom. Suddenly, Dylan appeared, previously unnoticed, in front of him. Ginny followed shortly behind her. Apparently, Ginny was taking it upon herself to look after her new friend.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Dylan told Charlie. "Ginny said I had to inform you."

"Ok, well, take Ginny with you. And don't take too long."

"Got it."

As Ginny and Dylan turned their backs, Charlie could see the two arguing. Shaking his head, he returned by Tonks' side as she finished the discussing with the shopkeeper how to take care of her new pet.

"Alright, let's go now," Tonks said, overcome with happiness by the new pet at her side.

"Tonks, are you quite sure that Remus will be alright with that pet?"

"Of course! He told me I could get anything I wanted so I could feel safe."

"But I'm not sure if he had that in mind."

"Well it's too late now, he'll just have to live with it. And I'm happy, so he'll be happy!"

"Okay…" Charlie said skeptically. "We have to wait for Ginny and Dylan, they went to the loo."

"Alright."

Bill, Charlie, and Tonks stood around for a few minutes impatiently, before Tonks wandered off and started looking at the other pets in the store.

Suddenly, Charlie said abruptly, "How long does it take to go to the loo?"

"Well, that depends…" Tonks answered him.

"Yes, I know that. But those girls have been gone way too long."

Tonks sighed. "Would you feel better if I went and checked on them?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll be right back."

"Don't get lost, or Remus will have my hide."

Tonks gave Charlie a mischievous smile that did nothing to reassure him.

He and Bill waited a few more minutes for Tonks to return. When she finally did, her expression was nothing like the one she had when she left.

"They're gone."

"What?"

"They're gone."

"What do you mean they're gone? How could they be gone? Where could they have gone?"

"I don't know, but they're not in there."

"Okay, well we need to find them. It's not like Ginny to go running off like that. She knows how dangerous things are right now."

"Who knows why they did it, and who really cares? Let's go find them!"

"Alright, let's split up. Bill, you can–"

"No, I can't."

"What? Why not?"

"Remember, Tonks is supposed to have two guards at all times until returned to Remus."

"Oh yeah. But we need to find Ginny! What if something's happened to her? What if she was taken by Death Eaters or something?"

"In the girl's bathroom?"

"You never know."

"Come on, let's just look around outside a bit."

Once outside, they failed to spot the two girls.

"Argh, I am going to _kill_ Ginny for this!" Charlie said in frustration.

"You wouldn't do that and you know it," Bill retorted.

"Yeah, you're right. But that doesn't mean I'm not mad at her."

Still outside the shop in case the girls returned there, each person was patrolling a different direction of the Alley. Suddenly, Tonks said, "Ginny!"

Charlie spun around instantly to see a very annoyed Ginny dragging Dylan by the arm. Dylan was putting up a bit of a struggle and still arguing with Ginny.

"Ginny!" Charlie ran over and hugged her, causing her to release her grip on Dylan. "Why did you run off? We were worried sick about you."

"_I_ didn't run off. I was trying to stop Dylan! She was bored and thought it would be amusing to try and break all of the rules that applied to her."

The three adults looked over at Dylan who was merely smiling at them with a very innocent, sweet smile.

"And did you break any of the rules?" Tonks asked her.

"Almost all of them. I was _trying _to break the last one, but Ginny dragged me back here." Dylan glared at Ginny. "I was so close, too!"

"He was about to bite you!"

"What?" The three adults said simultaneously.

"I know that!" Dylan argued. "I told him to!"

"How stupid could you be?" Ginny argued back.

"Wait, stop right here," Charlie said, breaking the two apart from their heated argument. "What were you doing, and who was going to bite you?"

"Nothing and nobody," Dylan answered.

Ginny answered for her, "She was trying to break the rule that stated no joining cults or becoming a magical creature."

"She was _what?_"

"Yeah, she found a vampire. How she did that, and in the middle of the day, nevertheless, I'll never know. But she did it. And she had him convinced to bite her and turn her into a vampire. And that's when I dragged her away."

Everyone was staring at Dylan with a look that plainly said 'Who could be so stupid as to do a thing like that?'

Suddenly, Bill asked Ginny, "Why didn't you drag her away sooner?"

"She tied me up so I couldn't follow her! Once I got free, I found her about to be bitten by a vampire."

Tonks was beginning to think that something was very strange about this new girl. And then she realized, that she was Dumbledore's daughter. Of course she would be strange.

"Well, um…" Charlie seemed to be at a loss of words for what to do.

Bill helped him out, "Dylan, don't do that again, okay? These rules are for your own safety. And just keep in mind, if you get in too much trouble, Snape might have to come back to become your sole guardian."

"Snape? What? I don't want to deal with him again! Oh, fine, I'll be good. Or, I'll try. There's no guarantees. My brain has a mind of its own. Literally, with all those other people in there."

Bill just looked at her strangely, before saying, "Oh, and let's not tell mum about this. She'd freak."

Everyone seemed to agree with that. Charlie noticed Tonks looking up at the sky with a very innocent look that was, in fact, too innocent.

"No telling Remus, either."

"But–but–I tell him everything! I can't keep something from him!"

"You didn't tell him you were pregnant," Charlie retorted.

"Yeah, well, that was different."

"Yup, it was only much more important."

"Oh just get off it. I'll try not to tell him, but there's no accounting for what might slip out."

That seemed to be as good of an answer as they would get, so the group decided to leave with that. They headed to the Leaky Cauldron to floo to the Ministry and meet Remus.

Once everyone had emerged from the fireplace in the lobby of the Ministry and submitted their wands for inspection, they headed towards the lift. Dylan was looking around with interest. She could never manage to find complete awe for any place, though. It would take an awful lot to awe Dylan Dumbledore.

Ginny was about to start explaining to her the workings of the ministry and what everything was, however, Dylan stopped her.

"I already know all about this place."

"How?"

Dylan tapped her temple.

"Ugh! You were in my head again?"

"Not really. And it was also their thoughts," Dylan nodded her head towards the others that were a little ways away from them.

"Wait, so you read my thoughts, but you weren't in my head?"

"It's complicated."

"Would you care to explain?"

"The mind isn't like a book to be read. And I don't go diving into your thoughts, either. Unless I'm just bored, then I go through people's memories. That's always fun. But what people are thinking… the thoughts are just out in the open for anyone to hear. Only certain people have the ability to decipher those thoughts and make sense of them. I'm one of those people. Most people don't notice that there're thoughts floating all around."

Ginny had to think about that for a moment. It did make some sense.

"This is the floor of the Auror's office," Bill said as the door to the lift opened.

Everyone filed out, Tonks being the first to do so, with her pet in her arms. She was walking in a very happy manner, with a bounce to her step. She couldn't wait to show Remus her new pet.

It took a minute for her to find where he was, but she soon found him and Harry talking with Kingsley.

"Hey, Tonks!" Kingsley said in greeting.

"Hi!" She returned.

Remus' back had previously been facing her, so he turned around and was about to offer a greeting before he noticed the pet in her arms. Struck speechless for a moment, he finally managed to say:

"What is that?"


	16. At the Auror Office

Car rides are better for nothing more than catching up on fanfic writing, right? And by the way, the HP Lexicon is a blessing. An absolute blessing. Also, we'd like to thank everyone who has ever reviewed on this story. I'd list everyone, but, well, that would make this chapter much longer than originally intended. So just know that your comments are very much appreciated. 

Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue. I'm not JK Rowling, and neither are you. The things we own are varied and few.

**Previously:**

Remus' back had previously been facing Tonks, so he turned around and was about to offer a greeting when he noticed the pet in her arms. Struck speechless for a moment, he finally managed to say:

"What is that?"

**Ch 16 – At the Auror Office**

"This is my new pet!" Tonks told Remus happily.

"But…is that…?"

"Yes, it's a bear!"

"A bear? Tonks, I thought I told you to get something small and manageable."

"She is small!"

"She's only a baby. Bears grow. Bears get _big_."

"But she's so cute. And she'll protect me!"

"Why couldn't you just get a dog?"

"Dylan has one of those."

Remus sighed and closed his eyes, placing his hand on his forehead. This girl would be the death of him. And yet, he still loved her more than anything in the world.

Tonks said in a small voice, "You aren't mad, are you?"

"No," he said, calm as ever. "If this is what you want, this is what you will have. Especially since you seem so happy. But still, I have to ask…why a bear?"

"Well, it was all that I could think of that was original. And it'll protect me nicely. And she won't get that big, either. She's a female American Black Bear, and they stay fairly small, or so the shopkeeper told me. And, better yet, it's a rarer color of a Black Bear…it's chocolate!"

Remus couldn't help laughing at that. Clearly, she had thought to win him over with that minuscule fact. And it did make the bear slightly more appealing to him.

"Okay, but just remember, you're the one taking care of that thing."

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

"Good. Well, um… hello everyone," Remus said, surprised, as he noticed that Tonks had followers, and more than just Bill and Charlie, although he was very happy to notice that they were still with her.

"How about we stay here and talk a bit," Remus said to those with Tonks. "I believe Tonks has a few matters to discuss with her supervisor."

"Oh, yeah," Tonks said, very depressed. She had been hoping he'd forget. Unfortunately, he never seemed to forget anything. "Here, you take care of her," Tonks handed her bear cub to Remus.

"But—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm supposed to take care of her. But it's only for a few seconds. I can't very well talk to my boss with a bear cub in my hands."

"Alright. As long as it's only for a few minutes."

"Thank you!" Tonks said with a cheery smile as she walked around the office, poking her head into cubicles to greet different Aurors.

When Tonks reached the end of the aisle of cubicles, all that remained left was a closed office door that beckoned menacingly to her. Way too many punishments had been issued within that door for it to have a good connotation. With a groan, she walked up to it and knocked quietly, half hoping that Robards was gone.

He wasn't. A gruff voice told her to enter.

She did so, and as she entered, she noticed that his chair was pointing away from her, looking out a charmed window that showed rainy weather, contrary to the actual weather outside.

"Is that you, Dawlish?" Gawain Robards, head of the Auror office, asked as he spun around in his chair.

"Oh, hello, Tonks! I thought you were off today."

"I was. Or I am. Whatever.

"Then why are you here? Hopefully not causing more mischief?"

Tonks blushed as she looked shamefully at the floor, "No. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Robards looked at her questioningly. Apparently, he had noticed that she was lacking her usual confidence.

"And that would be?"

"Well, umm…I, um…."

"Just spit it out, Tonks."

"I have to go on maternity leave."

"What?"

"I'm pregnant."

"Oh, wow. Well, um…" Robards remained sitting behind his desk that was piled up with paperwork. He seemed to be quite shocked.

"Yeah," Tonks said to break the silence.

"Remus?"

"Yeah."

"Getting married?"

"Nope."

"Good. I can still call you Tonks, then. Calling you Lupin would just be weird."

"Heh, yeah, it would," Tonks realized that for the first time. What would she do if she married him? She went by her last name, and it would just be plain weird if she began asking people to call her Lupin.

"He's the one making you do this, isn't he?"

"Yeah," Tonks regained her depressed look.

"I figured that if it was left up to you, you'd keep on working until you couldn't hide it anymore before telling me. And then, you'd still beg me to continue working."

"Can I?" Tonks looked at him hopefully.

"No." The answer was abrupt.

"But, maybe—"

"Tonks, you're pregnant, or did you forget?"

"But, I just thought… maybe I could do small stuff, you know, nothing too dangerous."

"Tonks, you're going to lose control of your magic soon, if you haven't already. You can't work. At all."

"Not even here at the office? What about paperwork? I could do paperwork!"

"You hate paperwork."

"But it would be better than nothing."

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow you."

"You can't allow me? What do you mean you can't allow me?"

"It's a safety precaution. According to the law, I can't allow you to remain working here while you're pregnant. It's too dangerous."

"Law? Who cares about laws?"

Robards gave her a stern look.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Tonks said dully as if reciting some long-enforced lesson. "Laws are good, we all obey them. I'm an auror and it's my duty to obey the law."

"Good, you remembered your lesson. After the past eight times that I've had to call you in here and assign you to deskwork as punishment for not remembering it."

Tonks blushed fiercely again. Finally, she continued their earlier argument.

"But please, oh please, can't I continue working here? I'll be good! I'll remember all of the lessons you've drilled into me!

"No."

"Aww, come on! Nobody else would know. I wouldn't get hurt, I'd just be here in the office!"

"No, Tonks. And that's final. I can permit you to go to your desk and get your things, but other than that, I don't want to see you in here again until that baby is born. It's far too dangerous for you of all people to be here. You're pregnant and, let's face it, we all know that you're a klutz. With you here in this place filled with curses and jinxes, you could get seriously hurt. Merlin only knows what Remus would do to me if something happened to you or your baby!"

"True…"

"Okay, I consider this topic closed. Have you been to a healer, yet?"

"No," Tonks had the air of a child that had been beaten into submission.

Robards sighed, "Do you want me to fire you?" He put his hand to his head. "I don't know how you survive, Tonks. I really don't. You need to go to a healer as soon as possible to make sure that something hasn't already happened to your baby. Who knows how long you've been running around here fighting dark wizards while being pregnant."

"Okay, okay, I'll go. But I just hate going to healers."

"Alright, now get your things and get out of here before anything happens to you and Remus blames me."

"Okay, but—"

He overrode here excuse to say, "And I don't want to see you step foot in this building again until at least April, if not May."

"WHAT? Why? Why not January?"

"Because you would still be pregnant then."

"Oh yeah."

Robards rolled his eyes. "Yes, Tonks, a pregnancy lasts nine months. And then you still need time to rest before you come back."

"But—"

"If you keep arguing, I won't let you come back until October."

"Oh, fine," Tonks stamped her foot angrily on the ground. "I'll see you on April first, and no later."

"Good. And you'll keep getting your usual pay while you're gone."

Tonks grumbled, "At least that's something."

"Now get out of here!"

"Yes, sir!" Tonks didn't need to be told twice. She hoped that the better she acted, the sooner he'd let her come back. Although she wasn't placing too much hope on that.

Tonks went back to her desk inside her very own cubicle, where Remus was waiting patiently for her. Her new bear was sitting in her swiveling, purple, squishy chair. The walls were covered with moving posters of her favorite band, the Weird Sisters, along with a wanted poster for Sirius Black that she had stolen before his death. There were random objects on shelves and dozens of pictures all over the desk. Her paperwork was scattered haphazardly across the surface.

As she neared Remus, she gave him a lopsided smile. She was glad to see him, but she was still upset that she had to quit her job, even if it was only temporary. She had given up too much for this job. To just give up her job, it was like giving up her life. Although, looking at Remus, she realized that while her job was a major part of her life, Remus claimed even more of it.

"Did you get your leave sorted out?" He asked her.

Petting the bear, she answered, "Yeah. How about the hor…horx…horcrust… whatever those are?"

Remus laughed at her inability to remember such an important object. "Yeah, we're all done. I talked to Kingsley about it. He's the only one that I can actually trust with something like this. He said he'd take care of it."

"Good. I've just got to get a few important items from my desk, then we can go." Tonks looked around, "Hey, where did everyone else go?"

"They got bored and left. Harry went with them."

"Oh, okay. Are they going to meet us later?"

"Yeah, they'll meet us at the Leaky Cauldron with Molly for lunch."

"Okay." Tonks began to rummage through her desk. Suddenly, she heard a voice coming down the hallway.

"Oh my God Tonks!"

"Oh not him, please be anyone but him…" Tonks muttered, stopping what she was doing to put a hand over her eyes. "Please, oh please, tell me that I was just imagining that voice."

Remus looked at her strangely. "What do you mean? Who is it?"

"Brian Savage. One of the stupid guys I work with. He is a complete and total arse."

"Tonks, Tonks!" The enthusiastic voice shouted as it came around the corner to stand in front of the entrance to Tonks' cubicle.

"Brian, Brian," Tonks replied rather unenthusiastically.

"I just heard!"

"Heard what?" she asked wearily, wishing he'd leave and hoping to God that he didn't know.

"You're pregnant!"

"Damn," Tonks muttered under her breath before replying to him. "Yeah, I am. Did you come to bother me about it?"

"Oh no, I came to do the honorable thing." Tonks just stared at him with a look that told him he was stupid as he got down on one knee and said, "Tonks, will you marry me?"

"What's gotten into your head this time?" Tonks asked tiredly, not surprised in the least.

"Well what do you mean? It is mine, right? You didn't cheat on me, did you? Because I for one have been loyal to you this whole time."

Tonks rolled her eyes at him before looking over at Remus, and noticing his confused look she said quickly, "You don't believe him, do you? Don't listen to a word that this arse tells you. I _never_ dated him." Tonks looked at Brian with a completely disgusted look. "And I sure as hell _never _slept with him."

Remus looked at her, slightly amused, "I believe you, really, I do."

"Thank you! Now Brian, you arse, get out of here!"

"So you won't marry me?" This guy seriously looked offended. Tonks, not for the first time, wanted to know what in the world went through his head and what his mental problem was. She especially wanted to know how he ever came to be selected as an Auror. "But…" Brian continued, "Our baby will grow up without his father!"

"No he won't, you idiot. You're not the father."

"Then who is?"

"Remus is, and I swear to God if you don't get out of here I'm going to kill you!"

"Oh but Tonks, you can't kill me. There's too many witnesses here"

Remus burst in, "I won't say a thing."

Brian ignored him. "You'll be put in Azkaban for sure if you killed an Auror, and that's no place for a baby."

"I don't think anyone would really care enough to put me there for killing you. Besides, I wouldn't be found guilty. It could have been self-defense. Remus here would back me up. Anyways, I'm an Auror. I have a license to kill. Remember?"

"But not whenever you feel like it. There _are_ rules, you know."

Tonks looked at him accusingly. Maybe he had been eavesdropping on her conversations with the boss. Oh well, only one more reason to hate him.

"I don't care! Now leave, you idiot!"

"Fine, fine, but not until you confess your undying love for me."

"In your dreams, midget!"

A voice sounded from outside of the cubicle, "Brian, are you harassing Tonks again?"

"No!" Brian shouted in a suddenly squeaky voice as he ran out.

After a couple of seconds, a new person came into the cubicle. He had short, grey hair and was tall and very tough looking. No doubt he had scared the short and scrawny Brian away.

"Thanks, Steven!" Tonks said looking very relieved.

"No problem. I keep telling you to report him."

"Yeah, I know, but he's never been that bad before. Not even when we were all patrolling Hogwarts last year. Although I suppose that might have been because you were there to scare him."

The new Auror laughed a bit before saying, "Still, you should report him."

"Alright, alright."

"Anyways, I hear congratulations are to be in order? And by the way, who's the father?"

"That would be me, Remus Lupin," Remus shook hands with the older man.

"Steven Dawlish, nice to meet you. I'm another Auror that works here with Tonks. But I'm not an arse."

"Most of the time, at least," Tonks added jokingly.

"Oh, thanks Tonks," Steven said dryly.

"Anytime."

Suddenly, another voice yelling, "Tonks, Tonks!" could be heard coming closer. Steven smiled humorously at Tonks, gave her a fatherly pat on the shoulder, and walked out to make room for the newcomer.

It was a younger wizard with his hair pulled back in a long ponytail.

"Hey, Williamson," Tonks said. "News really travels fast around here, doesn't it? Who all knows?"

"Mostly everyone. Although the only ones who seem to care are us younger ones. And Steven there. But he cares about everyone and everything."

"Tonks, Tonks!" They heard.

"Not again," Tonks muttered, getting tired of hearing that phrase. "Who is it this time?" Tonks said as Williamson left.

"ME!" Shouted a younger woman wearing a Weird Sisters shirt that matched Tonks' as she came running into Tonks' cubicle.

"AMI!" Tonks shouted back, hugging her best friend. While Ami was the second youngest Auror, she was still older than Tonks by about five years.

"Is it true?" Ami shouted gleefully. "Are you really pregnant?"

"Yes, I am."

"Oh wow, I can't believe it. You're really pregnant!"

"Yeah, why is that hard to believe?"

"Because it's you, Tonks. But this is fantastic! You're gonna have a baby! Is it a boy or girl?"

"I don't know and I don't want to know." Tonks replied rather irritably. _Why does everyone keep asking that?_ She thought, annoyed. It couldn't be that important. And anyways, that would mean visiting a Seer. That was almost as bad as seeing a healer. Almost.

"Oh well, it's still great. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to work."

Tonks noticed their boss suddenly standing outside of her cubicle. Apparently, he had come to see if she had left yet. But instead of confronting Tonks, he said, "Ami, wait a minute."

"Yes?" She said apprehensively, expecting to be told off for something once again.

"Remember our talk about Muggle clothes?" Ami winced as she looked down at her attire.

"Umm….no?"

"Ami," Robards said sternly.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll go change into my robes. Why does Tonks get to wear Muggle clothes?"

"Because she's off the clock. She's only getting her things and then leaving. Quickly. Right, Tonks?"

"Yes, sir," Tonks answered dully. He had clearly meant his question as a reminder for her to hurry up.

Robards strode powerfully out of the cubicle, leaving Tonks wondering not for the first time how he was able to pull off the whole power-thing so easily.

"I'll see you later, Tonks. Take care," Ami told her, as the two best friends hugged for farewell.

As she left, Steven came back into the cubicle. "Sorry, Tonks," he said.

"Sorry for what?"

"I've been ordered to escort you out of the building once you've gathered your things."

"WHAT?"

"I said sorry. Robards ordered me to. He seems to think that you could be seriously hurt just by standing there." Tonks began to argue, but Steven cut her off, "And he's right."

Tonks glared at him, but she knew she couldn't stay mad at him for too long. It wasn't his fault, and he did stand up for her an awful lot.

Standing next to Tonks, Remus could tell that she was getting more and more annoyed by the second at the antics of everyone trying to keep her safe. Finally, he said:

"Is that really necessary? I'm here, and I'll make sure she gets out safely."

"I guess it's not that necessary. But if Robards asks, I saw you right out through those doors. And Tonks, you have to promise me that you'll get your things and leave. Nothing else!"

"Yes, okay, I promise. Happy?"

"Very."

"Thanks."

"No problem. I'll see you later, and congratulations to both of you!"

As Steven left, Remus began to talk quietly to Tonks.

"He seems nice."

"He is, unlike Brian."

"Yeah, what was all of that about?"

"He's an absolute nutcase and he loves to annoy me."

"But he doesn't like Steven?"

"Nope. He's scared of him. Steven is the only one that would actually report Brian."

"Why?"

"Well, the rest of us think that Brian will get bored or if we ignore him enough, he'll realize that his act isn't funny."

"Does it work?"

"Apparently not."

Tonks took a few minutes to shuffle through her desk once more, and after she had placed a few things on top of the paperwork on her desk, Remus asked her, "Does that paperwork need to be done?"

"Neh, someone else will come along and do it for me."

"Um…okay… well, do you have everything?" Remus said as Tonks began to pick up everything and juggle it in her arms.

"Yeah, I don't need to take everything since I'll be coming back. Hopefully soon enough."

Tonks looked at the things in her arms, then looked at her new pet sitting in her chair, then she said, "Uh…Remus? I can't hold this stuff and hold little one here at the same time."

"Let me get that stuff for you. You shouldn't be carrying too much, anyways."

"It's not heavy… but thank you." Tonks kissed him on the cheek. Remus conjured up a box, then placed her things in there for easy carrying.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

Tonks looked around her little office space, almost regretfully, before picking up her bear and nodding to Remus.

"Then let's go."

----------

Lunch was a very interesting affair, what with everyone making comments about Tonks' new pet. Mostly, everyone was surprised that Remus hadn't made more of a deal about it. Then there was the occasional exclamation of, "A bear? What, are you insane?" But Tonks ignored everyone. The only thing that mattered to her was that Remus was okay with it.

After lunch, Molly took everyone back to Grimmauld place, but Remus and Tonks stayed behind.

Remus seemed to struggle with himself for a few moments before he finally managed to say, "Would you like to go get some candy?"

"Candy?" Tonks replied enthusiastically, "Of course I want to get some candy! A person can never have too much candy."

So Remus led Tonks down Diagon Alley as she skipped along merrily. Well, not really skipped, but she was very happy with the prospect of being treated to candy.

At first, Tonks thought they would just go to one of the candy stores at the beginning of Diagon Alley, however Remus led her right past those. Tonks was beginning to wonder where they were going when Remus continued down a minor part of Diagon Alley. It was a very boring section, too, if Tonks had any say about it.

"Remus, where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"But I _am_ getting candy, right?"

"Yes, you're getting candy. I wouldn't lie to you."

"Okay…" Tonks said suspiciously. She couldn't remember any candy shops being down this part of the alley.

They rounded a corner and began to walk up the steps to a very boring looking building when Tonks stopped suddenly in her tracks. She knew where they were going. And she didn't like it one bit.

It was her healer's office.


	17. At the Healer's Office

Sorry it's taken so long for this chapter to get out, but it's been very hectic, what with the second semester of school starting and all. So I hope that this chapter is enough to make it up to ya'll. And we'll try as hard as possible to get the next chapter out soon.

**Previously:**

"Remus, where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"But I _am_ getting candy, right?"

"Yes, you're getting candy. I wouldn't lie to you."

"Okay…" Tonks said suspiciously. She couldn't remember any candy shops being down this part of the alley.

They rounded a corner and began to walk up the steps to a very boring looking building when Tonks stopped suddenly in her tracks. She knew where they were going. And she didn't like it one bit.

It was her healer's office.

**Ch. 17 – At the Healer's Office**

Remus noticed that his follower had stopped. He turned around, waiting for the reaction that he knew he'd get. He was actually surprised that she hadn't realized where they were going sooner than now.

Ah, here was the reaction.

"REMUS LUPIN! How dare you drag me here without telling me!"

"I knew that you wouldn't come if I didn't trick you."

"And you're right! I won't go in, I refuse!"

"You have to go in, and you know it."

"But…but… you promised me candy! And you even said that you wouldn't lie to me!"  
"You're right, I did promise you candy. And I did _not_ lie to you. You'll get your candy. _After_ you visit the healer."

"But I don't wanna!" Tonks whined, slowly backing down the steps in an attempt to escape.

"Tonks." Remus stated simply, edging closer to her as he noticed that she was trying to back down the stairs.

"But, but…"

Suddenly, Tonks missed a step and tripped. Luckily, Remus had gotten close enough to her that he was able to catch her and stop her fall.

"Tonks, you need to stop this. You're carrying a child now; you can't be a child yourself."

Tonks had gone sheet white. Whether it was from the fall or from the scolding, Remus could only guess.

"Are you alright?" Remus began to worry about her when she remained unmoving in his arms, just staring up at him with that very pale face.

Tonks was silent for a moment before she stood up on her own and muttered, "Yeah… yeah, I think I'm alright."

"Good. And could you please try not to scare me like that again?"

Tonks half-smiled as the color returned to her face. She was standing, but Remus still kept an arm around her to support her. And she wasn't about to let him remove that arm, either. Tonks had forgotten entirely that she was on stairs, and this little memory just contributed even more to her ever-amouting phobia.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Remus asked, still worried about her.

"Yes, I'm much better now," Tonks gave him a peck on the cheek and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Now will you see the healer?"

Tonks looked up at him with a petrified look.

"Don't worry," Remus comforted her, "I'll be right there with you. But you really need to see your healer."

Tonks stared into his eyes, and noticing the devotion and worry he had for her, she finally made a decision.

"Fine, I'll go."

"Thank you, Tonks." Remus looked extremely relieved. "Now come on."

Still holding on to her, he led her in to see the healer.

When they entered the building, they immediately found themselves in a waiting room. It had that too-clean feeling that came with a healers's office; it was one of the things that Tonks hated about healers. On the walls sat a few moving portraits of famous healers. Chairs and couches lined the walls, as well. Near the entrance was a small table with a roll of parchment, ink, and a quill.

With these materials, Remus wrote down Tonks' name. The healer carried a similar piece of parchment on him that would notify him when a name was added to the paper in the waiting room.

While Remus wrote down Tonks' name, she sat down on one of the plush couches and picked up her bear. Remus walked over to sit next to her. They sat in an uncomfortable silence before Tonks burst out:

"You're doing this just to get back at me for getting a bear, aren't you?" Tonks looked at Remus angrily while she continued to hold her bear close to her.

"No, Tonks. I made this appointment before you got the bear. It has nothing to do with getting back at you for anything. This was necessary, and you know it. I just want to make sure that everything is okay with you and our baby."

"I know, but it's just that—"

Remus cut her sentence off. "Yes, I know, you hate healers. But Tonks—"

This time, Tonks cut him off. She still sounded very annoyed. "I know, I know. I need to stop thinking about myself and start thinking about the health and safety of the baby. I just… I _really_ don't like healers. I've had way too many bad experiences with them."

Tonks was silent for a moment, and Remus let her have her silence. Finally, she said quietly:

"I suppose I can get over my fear to make you feel better. And," Tonks added, gently patting her still-flat stomach, "to make sure _you_ stay healthy."

"Thank you. And I'm sure the baby thanks you, too."

"Just, please, don't ever do that again."

Remus was confused for a second, before he finally realized what she meant.

"What, trick you?"

"Yes! You could have just told me that you'd made an appointment with my healer."

"And you would have come along willingly?"

"Yes."

"No."

"What do you mean, no? I would have come."

"No you wouldn't have."

"Yes I would have."

"_No_, you wouldn't."

"Uh huh!"

Remus sighed. "I am _not_ playing this game."

A new voice said, "That's probably a good thing; you would have lost. She's a pro at that game."

"Oh," Remus said, startled, "Healer Johnson, I didn't realize that you were here."

"Yeah, I came in. I've been watching you two arguing back and forth, yes and no. It was quite amusing."

"I'm sorry, Healer Johnson, are you ready to see Tonks now?"

"Yes, I am. Come on, Tonks, or do I have to put the Imperius curse on you to get you to come?"

"No, I'll come on my own," Tonks huffily replied, annoyed that everyone gave her so little credit.

"Wow, that's a first," the healer commented, surprised. "Last time, I had to have one of my strongest nurses sit out here with you to make sure you didn't leave. Then, I had to have three of my strongest assistants drag you back to your room."

Tonks blushed crimson as she got up, set her bear back on the floor, and walked towards the door leading into the back rooms of the healer's office. She was almost there when she realized that she couldn't feel Remus right behind her. Spinning around, she noticed that he was still sitting on the couch.

"Remus," she adressed him, "Aren't you coming?"

"Well," he began awkwardly, "I didn't know if you wanted me to…"

"Of course I do!"

Tonks went back to the couch to pull him up to his feet. Actually, she just let him hold hands and he stood up by himself. But it was the thought that counted.

As they walked towards the healer, still standing at the door, Tonks told Remus, "Besides, if you didn't come, who would listen and remember all of the things that he's gonna tell me not to do anymore?"

Laughing, Remus said, "True."

The healer protested, "I would have written it down for you. Merlin knows that you wouldn't listen, Tonks." Turning to Remus, he said, "But you're more than welcome to come back with her if that's what she wants."

"Yes, that's what I want," Tonks insisted, holding onto Remus' arm with a death grip that revealed to him her nervousness about seeing a healer.

Remus would have put his arm around Tonks to comfort her, but she was holding onto his arm with both of her hands, and he had a feeling that he wouldn't have been able to get her to let go even if he tried.

Glancing reproachfully at Tonks' bear, the healer asked, "Is that a…?"

"Yes, it is," Remus answered for Tonks. "That's a bear. She insisted upon getting it as a pet."

The healer was left in silence for a few moments while he led the motley crew down the hall, before he finally said, "Generally, I wouldn't allow an animal in here, especially not a bear. But since it _is_ Tonks' bear, I suppose I have to let it stay."

"Damn right you do," Tonks replied angrily. "I would walk right out these doors if you refused to allow me my bear."

"I figured that would be the case."

"Oh," Remus whispered to her, "so you'll leave for the bear and completely ignore that enlightening discussion we had in the waiting room earlier?"

"Well, um, oh fine! Maybe I wouldn't leave. But I would be very unhappy!"

Smothering laughter, Remus continued walking with Tonks by his side.

They followed the healer through the door and into a small hallway, finally ending up in front of a small room.

As they approached the door, the healer said, "As many times as Tonks has been here, I should have this room designated as hers."

Remus laughed while Tonks only glared up at him, still keeping a tight hold on his arm.

When they first entered the room, absolutely nothing was in the room. Suddenly, a couch and a couple of chairs appeared, summoned by the current needs of the room's occupants.

"Have a seat," the healer motioned towards the small couch.

Tonks and Remus sat down on the couch, and Tonks relaxed her grip on Remus. The bear sat on Tonks' feet, apparently quite attached to her already.

The healer picked a particularly comfortable looking chair and sat down in it, facing the couple.

"So," he began, "What exactly are you here for this time, Tonks? Oh, let me guess…broken ribs? Shattered femur? It's nothing life-threatening, is it? Because I have told you before, Tonks, if so, you don't need to wait to see me; you should go straight to St. Mungo's."

"No, nothing like that," Tonks answered. "And I only did that once!"

"Three times, if I remember correctly," the healer casually pointed out. "And I already know why you're here, Remus told me in the owl he sent earlier. He also asked if you needed to see a Maternity-Healer or if you could just see me."

"Oh, so I don't have to see another healer?"

"Oh no, of course you have to see another healer. But it might be a while before you can get in to see a Maternity-Healer, and seeing as it's you—Merlin knows what you've already exposed yourself and your baby to—I suggested that you see me right away."

"Oh damn, I hoped you wouldn't say that. You're one of the only healers I've met who's actually somewhat nice."

"Well, I know some nice maternity-healers that I can set you up with. Let's see… there's Healer Pasternak."

"Is that a guy?" Tonks asked immediately.

"Yes, Healer Pasternak is a man."

"Uh-uh, not happening."

"I'm assuming that you mean you'd prefer a female maternity-healer?"

"Oh yeah."

"Ok, well, there's Healer Sinagra. She's very good."

"Okay, if I have to."

"Good, I will owl her when we are done so you can see her soon."

"Oh well that's brilliant," Tonks said sarcastically.

"And isn't it?" Healer Johnson cheerfully counteracted her pessimism.

Tonks groaned before happily asking, "So are we done now?"

"Tonks, we haven't even started yet."

"Well isn't that just bloody brilliant?" Tonks muttered, earning a reproachful glance from Remus. Tonks only rolled her eyes.

The healer continued, ignoring their silent exchange. "How about I go ahead and look you over, Tonks, and make sure that everything is okay with you and the baby. Then I'll go over everything with you. After that, I can try to answer any questions you might have."

"Then we'll be done?" Tonks asked very hopefully.

"Yes, Tonks, then we'll be done."

"And I'll get some candy?"

"If you're good."

"I'm always good."

"You're never good."

Remus couldn't help laughing. Tonks elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow!" He whispered to her. "What was that for? It hurt."

"Good!" Tonks stuck her tongue out at him.

Before anyone else got hurt, the healer said, "Why don't you two stand up?"

They did so, and the couch and chairs promptly disappeared, being replaced by a hospital bed and two rolling chairs. Healer Johnson sat down in one of the chairs, signalling for Tonks to lie down on the bed.

As she did so, Remus took the other rolling chair, moving it over to sit on one side of Tonks. He instantly grabbed her hand to lend her the reassurance that she desperately needed. Remus could see that the annoyance she showed existed only to cover her nervousness.

"Okay, now Tonks," the healer stood up, taking his wand out of his pocket as he did so. "This won't hurt at all, although it may feel a little strange. All I need is for you to lie there and try to relax."

"Easy for you to say," she muttered.

"Now, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to let go of his hand until I'm done with the examination."

Remus could tell that Tonks was about to refuse, so he let go of her hand before she could protest. Tonks only stared at him and whimpered, much like her bear who was whimpering now that she couldn't be next to Tonks.

The healer raised his wand while saying an incantation, then he pointed it at Tonks. He directed the pastel green light that emitted from it, starting at her head and slowly moving down to her toes. Once he was finished, a roll of parchment flew out of the wand tip. He immediately caught it and began reading what was written on it.

Remus instantly reached for Tonks' hand again, and she squeezed it tightly.

As the healer read the results, Remus whispered to Tonks, "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"No, you're right. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be… it was worse."

Remus laughed softly.

"Yes," the healer said, "but the hard part is over now." Then he went back to reading the parchment.

Looking over at Tonks, Remus grew worried. Over the course of the appointment, Tonks' face had paled dramatically.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"No," Tonks replied abruptly.

Hiding all traces of his severe worry for her, Remus said, "Well you're doing very well, I'm proud of you."

"Thanks. I'm trying to be good."

"You're doing just fine," Remus stood up to kiss her lightly on the cheek. Turning to the healer, he asked, "So how is she?"

"Overall she's pretty good," the healer responded, lifting his eyes only momentarily from the parchment, "but we need to talk about a few things, Tonks."

"I hate it when you say that," Tonks mumbled, but the men ignored her and continued with their discussion.

"And the baby?" Remus asked.

"Perfectly fine as far as I can tell. But that's why she needs to go to a specialist as soon as possible; they would be able to find out more about the baby. Don't worry, though, if there was anything majorly wrong, I would have noticed it. But still, I recommend seeing a specialist soon."

"I'll make sure she does that."

"Good." Glancing over at Tonks, the healer said, "Tonks, you can get up now."

Instantly, Tonks sat up and slid off of the bed, walking over to lean against Remus. Suddenly the room changed back to its previous form, with nice, comfy couches, and Remus and Tonks sat down on the couch, tightly holding hands.

"So what do we get to talk about this time?" Tonks said, groaning at the familiarity of this situation. Well, not this exact situation.

"Well, let's see…" the healer began to answer her. "Let's start with your diet." Tonks rolled her eyes. "You have to remember that you're eating for two, both you and your baby. That means no more junk food, or at least eat it in moderation, and absolutely no caffeine. And that means no coffee. And Tonks, try to eat more nutritionally balanced meals. Oh, and I don't think I need to tell you, but no alcohol."

"Is that all?"

"For your diet, yes. Next thing: no stress. It's not good for the baby."

"Easier said than done," Tonks muttered.

"Try."

"Fine."

"No overexerting yourself. That means no going to the gym and working out or running a mile every morning. No heavy lifting of any kind, and you need to get at _least_ eight hours of sleep now, and more as you get further on in the pregnancy."

"Ok, I can do that… I think."

"I have a question," Remus asked, "Can she take a sleeping potion?"

"No. Thanks for reminding me. Here," the healer reached into his pocket and handed Remus a small piece of parchment, "this is a list of all the potions she can have. If something's not on there, it's most likely not good for her to have."

"Thanks."

"Oh, and Tonks, absolutely no more work!"

"I've already fixed that," Remus answered.

"Good. Now don't let her go back until at least a month or two after the baby is born."

Tonks muttered angrily, "I don't think we'll have a problem with that. Some bosses are just too stubborn for their own good."

The healer looked at the parchment containing Tonks' results one last time before folding it neatly and putting it into his pocket, most likely to store in her records later.

"Well, that should be just about it for now," he said. "There's only a few more things you should know about being a pregnant witch. If you haven't noticed already, you will lose the ability to control your magic."

"Yeah, why is that?" Tonks asked curiosly, wondering if there was a way to get it back.

"All of the magic in you is currently going to the baby. Not much is actually known as to why this happens, though."

"Oh. So does that mean that the baby has control over my magic?"

"In a way, yes. And that is why you shouldn't attempt to do any magic, because Merlin only knows what would happen. And that brings me to my next point. Limit your apparition and portkey usage. Having to rearrange your molecules like that can tamper with the development of the baby. It can be very dangerous. Absolutely no apparating while you're in your third trimester, unless it's an emergency. And _never_ try to apparate if you're in labor. That can be _extremely_ dangerous. The consequences are undeterminable."

"Okay, that's easy enough. What about flooing?"

"That's alright."

"Um…what about… can I change my… what I mean is, would it hurt the baby if…" Tonks stammered. She needed to know the answer, but she really didn't want to know it.

"If you what?"

"If I, well, change myself. You know, as a metamorphmagus."

"I wouldn't suggest that. And no transfigurating yourself either, but most likely, you'll lose the ability to do both of those anyways. Still, don't try."

"I'll lose those powers, too?" Tonks was outraged.

"Yes, most likely."

"My hair? My eyes? What'll happen?"

"They'll either return to their natural color, or they'll reflect your mood."

"Oh, like when I was a kid? That was actually pretty cool."

"Yes, that is one side effect that may occur. Then again, nothing at all may happen concerning your ability. Not much is really known about metamorphmaguses, due to their rarity."

"What are the chances of the baby being a metamorphmagus?"

"There's more of a chance than with most children, due to the fact that you are gifted with the ability, but it's still very unlikely that your child will be a metamorphmagus. While it is a genetically determined power, it is still a very rare ability."

"Oh, that's a shame. It's so much fun being a metamorphmagus, I'd like to pass that on to my baby."

"Well, there's always that possibility. Now, do you have any more questions?"

Remus cleared his throat uneasily, "Yes, I have one more."

"I think I know what it is. The answer is maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Maybe what?" Tonks asked curiously, looking at Remus

The healer answered for him, "He wants to know the likelihood that the baby will be like him, am I correct?"

"Yes. So…. Maybe?" Remus looked as if his world just might collapse around him. Tonks squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"Well, there's not much known about werewolves, let alone them procreating. But I'm assuming that since your very DNA itself has been altered by the bite of the werewolf, even if slightly, there is a chance that your child may receive some of that DNA and be affected by your affliction."

The thought of passing his burden to someone else, anyone else, let alone his very own child, left Remus breathless. Finally, he managed to choke out, "Is there anything we can do to prevent that from happening?"

"I'm afraid not. But the good news is that since only one of you is a werewolf, the chances of your child being one are very slim. As far as I know, the only way to become a true werewolf is to be bitten, but I do think there is a good possibility that your will have a few of the characteristics of one."

"Like?"

"More attuned senses of hearing and smell, better reflexes, being allergic to silver, maybe even extreme mood swings during the full moon, maybe more than that, maybe less. Even so, I highly doubt that the baby will actually transform or be afflicted nearly as badly as you are."

"Thank you."

"Now," the doctor brushed off the praise, "if you have any questions like how to cure morning sickness or anything about mood swings or anything else, save them until you see Healer Sinagra, because to be honest, I don't know much about all of that."

"That's all right, Healer Johnson, you've been lot of help. Thank you." Remus said, since he knew Tonks would never thank a healer.

"Of course."

"Do I get candy this time?" Tonks asked excitedly.

Laughing, the healer replied, "Yes, you do, Tonks. You were unusually good today."

Instantly, a large Honeydukes chocolate bar appeared on the couch next to Tonks. With a large smile, Tonks picked it up.

"Thank you!" She said cheerfully.

"You're very welcome, Tonks," he replied, talking to her as he might to a small child. "No do me a favor and take care of yourself. Do the things I told you, and go see the maternity-healer. And most importantly, listen to him." The healer nodded his head towards Remus.  
"Of course!" Tonks responded, offended.

"It was nice to meet you, Remus," Healer Johnson shook hands with him. "Take care of her."

"That I will do."

The healer walked them to the door where he left them to attend to another patient. Remus would have asked him about payment, except that he had already verified that Tonks was fully covered for any medical bill of any sort. It was one of the perks of being an Auror.

Holding hands, Remus and Tonks walked happily down Diagon Alley, the bear stumbling along behind them.

"See?" Remus told Tonks as he put his arm around her shoulders, allowing her to rest her head on him. "Now that wasn't so bad."

"I guess…I did get this chocolate bar." With Remus' arm still around her, she began to unwrap her chocolate, breaking off a small piece to eat tauntingly.

Fast as lightning, Remus reached to grab the chocolate with his other hand, but she had anticipated his move.

"No you don't!" Tonks quickly moved her chocolate as he reached for it, then she lightly slapped his arm. "I worked hard for that, thank you very much!"  
"Hey!"

"I don't share!"  
"Awww, come on, just a litte? You know how much I like chocolate."

"No."

"What did I ever do to you?"

"Uh, well, let's see…for starters, you tricked me into going to the healer's."

"Hey! I apologized for that."

"I don't think you did."

"I didn't? Well, Tonks, I'm sorry. I am truly sorry that I tricked you into going to see the healer. I won't do it again."

"And?"

"Uh… I want chocolate?"

"No."

"And I love you."

"And?"

"I love your new bear."

"And?"

"And you are without a doubt the most beautiful woman that I have ever met in my entire lifetime."

"Ok, that'll work." Tonks broke him off a large chunk of the chocolate bar.

"Thank you."

"And thank you."

"I meant it."

"You did?" Tonks asked as she popped the last bit of choclate into her mouth.

"Yes, every word of it."

"Aww, well damn."

"What?"

"I've got nothing left to give you."

"Oh, well then, how about a kiss?"

Tonks laughed as they stopped walking and stood in the middle of the alley, with the crowds parting around them. Tonks granted Remus his wish, and gave him a very passionate kiss, completely oblivious to the people surrounding them.

Finally, they broke apart and continued on their way, Remus' arm protectively around Tonks as she cradled her bear in her arms.

"So, now where to?" Remus asked.

"My apartment."

"Oh, right. Let's go."


	18. At Tonks' Apartment

And here it is, another wonderful chapter for our wonderful readers. The next chapter should be out soon, it's in the process of being written at the moment. We also have many, many chapters ahead planned out almost to the word, so we hope to start bringing you chapters faster than we have been lately in order to provide you with your much needed FanFicFix. 

Oh, and just as a forewarning, we've been thinking of possibly changing the title to this fic, so if the title suddenly changes, don't worry, we meant for it to do that. It'll be for the benefit of us all. We were beginning to think that our title was very common, and seeing as we created it at the last minute, we've decided we need a more personalized title. So look for that to change sometime in the future.

Disclaimer: Looks like we forgot this lovely portion of the chapter last time, so here we go: HP is owned by others, not us, so characters and places that appear in the books and/or movies do not belong to us. But everything else we can claim. Unless for some reason it resides secretly in the mind of JK Rowling, then I suppose she can have credit.

**Ch. 18 – At Tonks' Apartment**

Tonks and Remus walked inside a large apartment building settled firmly in the wizarding world. Tonks led Remus to the 5th floor and then dragged him down a hall until she finally stopped in front of a door inscribed with the number 13.

"Thirteen?" Remus asked cautiously. It was a well-known fact in the wizarding world that the number thirteen was very unlucky.

"Eh, it was cheap. Nobody else wanted it," noticing the hesitant look in Remus' face, she added, "It's not cursed or anything. In fact, I rather like the number 13."

As Tonks turned to unlock her door, she caught a glimpse of Remus giving her a look that clearly said, 'you're insane', but Tonks merely shrugged her shoulders and inspected her door. There was no keyhole, not even a doorknob. No possible way to open it without magical interference.

"_Aperio,_" Tonks murmured. When nothing happened, she glared at the door and began to think that something had gone wrong. Maybe someone had gotten into her apartment and changed her lock? But how could someone get in? She had it very well protected.

"Tonks?" Remus asked quietly.

"What?" Tonks snapped, annoyed. She was trying to figure out what to do.

"You don't have magic."

"What?" Tonks wasn't really listening to him.  
"You don't have your magic, remember?"

"Oh. That's right. Well then this is going to be tough. How am I supposed to get in there?"  
"I'll say it for you."

"I guess that'll work. But it'll usually only open for me unless instructed otherwise."

"What's the incantation?"

Tonks told him, and he said it to the door. Instantly, a doorknob and lock appeared. She extracted a small key from one of her pockets, stuck it into the keyhole, and turned it. The door still wouldn't open.

"You have to say _expositus_ now," Tonks instructed.

Remus did so and the door promptly swung open by itself.

"Thanks!" Tonks said as she walked into her apartment and disappeared out of his sight. Realizing that he hadn't followed her, she yelled from a distant room, "You can come in, you know!"

"I know," Remus said loud enough for her to hear as he slowly stepped inside. As soon as he had gotten out of the way, the door slammed shut by its own accord and quickly locked itself again.

Not thinking twice about it (Tonks would hardly remember to lock her own door once she had come in), Remus walked into the main room of the apartment. The living room, composed of a vast assortment of furniture, took a few minutes to fully take in. The walls were a deep shade of violet. There was a black leather couch with many pillows of various shapes, sizes, and colors strewn across its surface. A colorful blanket had been haphazardly thrown over the back of the couch. In one corner of the couch rested a puppy stuffed animal that, from the looks of it, had been well appreciated.

The couch faced a large fireplace, its mantel covered with a mixture of photographs and knick-knacks. Behind the couch, against the wall, sat what looked like a drink cart. In the center of the room, in front of the couch, sat a large, wooden coffee table. Strewn across it were a couple of candles, some newspapers, files for Tonks' work, dirty dishes and eating utensils, and a large bowl filled to the brim with an assortment of candy.

Near the couch, Remus saw a large, baby pink chair that looked extremely comfortable with another blanket on it accompanied by a big, fuzzy purple pillow. In the corner of the room, there was a wooden bookshelf with books crammed on it in no particular order along with various objects of importance to Tonks: some candles, a photo or two, and a few of statues including a dog, a dragon, and a wolf.

Her apartment wasn't what Remus had expected. He had expected mass chaos. What he saw may be messy, but it really wasn't that bad. Sure, there were a lot of different colors, and it was true that nothing matched, but at least nothing was neon or so bright that it threatened to permanently impair one's vision.

As Tonks traveled between rooms, she told Remus, "I'm just gonna grab a few things really quickly, I won't be too long, and then we can be off again." Noticing that Remus stood around awkwardly, she added, "You can sit down, you know. Feel free to do anything you want, just don't light the place on fire and you'll be fine."

Remus answered sarcastically, "I'll try not to conjure any fire. No promises though. You know me, I'm quite the pyro."

Tonks laughed as she hurried back into her room.

"You know," Remus called to her, "you don't have to rush, we're not in a hurry."

Remus sat down on the couch, being careful to avoid upsetting the many pillows. Unconsciously, he began to straighten up the mess on the coffee table, separating the papers into organized piles. He had finished with that and stood up to begin organizing the bookshelf when, suddenly, he heard a loud crash come from Tonks' bedroom.

"Tonks!" Remus yelled as he ran into her room to find Tonks standing on her bed with a shelf in her hand.

All she said was, "Oops."

"Are you all right?" Remus asked, worried that she had been hurt.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tonks had dropped the shelf and was rubbing her shoulder. "My shoulder hurts a bit, but I think it's just bruised."

"What happened?"

"Well, I was trying to get something down from the shelves above my bed," Tonks explained as she began to climb off of her bed. She stopped where she was when Remus gave her a death glare. "Normally, I would just summon it down, but seeing as I no longer have magic to do so, and I'm not exactly tall enough, I stood on the bed to reach. But I still wasn't tall enough. So then I tried to pull myself up a bit using the shelf, and, well, go figure, it came off the wall and everything fell."

"But you're fine, right?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, well, here, let me help you."

Remus finally looked around the room that he had just entered…it was insane, absolute madness. The walls were bright pink and lined with various posters including the Weird Sisters, an obviously muggle (the pictures were stationary) band called Green Day, and a wanted poster with Sirius Black on it. Along with those decorations, colorful cutouts of stars and butterflies had been stuck on the walls in various locations

In the center of the room, against one wall, sat Tonks' large bed with a bright, rainbow striped comforter and neon pink sheets. However, the covers weren't exactly on the bed. They were just as Tonks had left them the last time she had slept here. The covers were half hanging off of the bed, half twisted up in a tangled mess on top of the bed. Mixed with the covers were the various things that had previously been on the shelf above her bed: awards, treasured pictures, and even a bamboo plant that had miraculously remained safely in its pot. What seemed like thousands of multi-colored pillows accompanied the grand mess that called itself Tonks' bed. There was a small bedside table with what looked like a giant purple flower posing as a lamp and a digital alarm clock (obviously muggle-originated) that did not even say the right time.

On the wall across from the bed was a windowed door that led out on to an open balcony with a railing thick enough for a person to sit on. What looked like Tonks' entire wardrobe had been thrown into a pile in a corner of the room next to that door, in front of what appeared to be her actual wardrobe. The doors of it were wide open, and hanging inside were a few empty hangers, showing that, at one time, Tonks had at least attempted to hang her clothes up.

On the other side of the balcony door, there was a small desk with a comfortable-looking chair that the bear currently sat in, curled up in a ball inside some neon-colored blankets. On top of the desk toppled stacks of papers and files for Tonks' work, some books, some quills, and an open bottle of ink just waiting to spill.

Tonks watched Remus taking in the view for a few moments before she said, ashamed, "I know, it's kinda messy."

"Kind of?"

"Ok, really messy."

"That's still quite a bit of an understatement. Pink walls?"

"Hey! I like pink!"

Ignoring her protests, Remus picked his way through the clutter and helped Tonks to get safely back on the floor. He began to inspect her hurt shoulder. "Does it still hurt?"

"A little, but I think it's all right."

"Most likely it is, but I just want to make sure," Remus moved her arm around a bit, testing her shoulder. "Does that hurt?"

"No."

"Good," Remus kissed her on the cheek. "Now, how can I help?"

"Um….well…I need clothes and stuff and um….oh! A bag, or a trunk, that would help."

"And I would find one… where?"

"Oh, um…in the closet by the front door…I think."

Remus went to search the front closet for a trunk, or a bag, or anything that even closely resembled something of the kind. After a few minutes, Tonks heard a loud crash. Most likely, it was everything in the closet falling out on top of Remus. But isn't that what closets are for, stashing away junk so people can't see it?

Finally, Remus came back into Tonks' room saying, "I found one."

"Awesome! Now let's pack."

Remus set the trunk down on the bed and opened it up while Tonks began to randomly throw things in it.

"Um….Tonks?"

"Yes, Remus?" Tonks replied sweetly, knowing exactly what it was that he was inquiring about.

"Well, umm, you're…"

"What?" She said defensively, "This is how I pack!"

"Well, it's just…"

"Remus, would you like to fold my clothes up all nice and neat and put them in the trunk in an organized fashion?"

"Yes."

"Go right ahead, be my guest. I'll just find the clothes I want."

While Remus folded her clothes neatly, Tonks uprooted her entire room searching for the specific items of clothing that she wanted. If possible, the room now looked worse than it did when they first entered it.

"Alright, that's all of my clothes that I want," Tonks said as she watched Remus fold the last of the clothes and place them neatly in the trunk. He was about to explain his organization system before Tonks cut him off.

"I'm sorry, Remus, but as much as I'd love to sit here and listen to different organizational methods, it just might bore me to death. That, or my brain just might reject all of the foreign knowledge and decide to implode. And you wouldn't want that, now would you?"

Laughing, Remus sat on the bed to watch Tonks as she walked over to her desk and began to dig madly in the piles of papers. She knocked the open bottle of ink onto the floor in her mad haste to find what she was looking for.

"Argh! How am I supposed to clean that up?"

"I'll get it for you," Remus casually pulled out his wand, said a spell, and the ink evaporated from the light blue carpet.

"Thanks," Tonks said distractedly as she rummaged around in the desk drawers.

"What are you looking for?"

"Huh? Oh, some files and stuff for work. I thought that I could actually do them now that I've got nothing better to do with my time. Grrr, these are the old files. I need the new ones. I know I brought them home just the other day…I think."

"Could they be the papers on the coffee table?"

"Oh, maybe!"

Tonks ran out of the room and suddenly shouted, "Ow! I'm alright, I'm alright!"

"Tonks?" Remus ran out into the living room, where Tonks was sitting on the floor rubbing her knee.

"There's a table there."

"Oh really? I never would have guessed. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. But I do feel really stupid now."

"You're not stupid, just a little clumsy," Remus pulled Tonks to her feet. Worried that she may not be able to support herself on her hurt knee, he held on to her. Without letting go of her, he picked the papers off of the table and showed them to her. "Are these the right papers?"

"Yeah!" Tonks took the papers from him. "Thanks! Uh… Remus? You can let go of me now. I'm fine, really."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It hurts a bit, but really, I'm quite used to it."

Remus let go of her hesitantly.

"But thank you for making sure I was all right. And for doing it earlier today, too. And the time before that… and, well, all day long. Wow, I've been clumsy today."

"No more than usual. And no gratitude is required," Remus would have said more, but he was cut off by a high-pitched cry.

"Oh no!" Tonks took off running back into her room, from where the loud noise was being emitted.

Remus following her, Tonks ran over to her desk chair where the little bear, looking absolutely pitiful, made that heart-wrenching cry. Tonks immediately picked her up and began crooning over it.

"Is it okay?" Remus asked her.

"She, not it. It's are dead and inanimate, and she isn't. I think she's fine, she just got scared being all by herself," Tonks held the bear close to her, saying, "There, there, you're all right now, we're here." She quickly stopped crying.

After a few minutes, Remus asked, walking back to the trunk, "So, what else do you need?"

"Umm…" Tonks set the bear back in the blanket on the desk chair, "Well, I'm not sure, but I've gotten everything out of here that I need. Just let me look around the apartment a bit and then we'll be done."

"Alright, you get what you need and I'll move this to the living room," Remus levitated the trunk in the air and sent it before him into the living room. He began to follow it before Tonks stopped him.

"Oh wait! Little One!" Tonks shouted as she ran over to pick her bear back up, still cradled in her blankets.

"I'll take her," Remus offered. "By the way, what's her name?"

"Oh, I haven't picked one yet."

"Okay, well come on then, little one," Remus took the bear from Tonks and followed the trunk out into the living room while Tonks made her way towards her bathroom.

Remus let the trunk fall gently to the floor beside the couch while he carefully put the little bear on the couch and wrapped her blankets around her neatly. Then he began to straighten up the blankets and pillows on the couch and chair. After that, the chaotic bookshelf caught his eye again. So, naturally, he had to go organize that, as well.

Once the books were neatly placed on their shelves again and the statues were no longer in immediate danger of being knocked off by something else, Remus thought of cleaning up the dirty dishes left in the living room, however, Tonks returned to the room, her arms loaded with bottles and other various things.

"What's all of that?" Remus asked curiously.

"Oh, shampoo, conditioner, body soap, face wash, toothpaste, hairbrush, all that good stuff."

"But don't you already have that back at Grimmauld Place? We've been staying there for a while now."

"Yeah, but since I'm here, I might as well get some more in case I run out or something. I was already running out of toothpaste."

"You do know that I have toothpaste, right?"

"Yeah, but yours is disgusting. Seriously, mint? You can't expect me to use that. Mine's citrus flavored."

Tonks placed the bottles next to her trunk so Remus could put them inside it in an organized fashion. Then she realized that something was different.

"Did you clean my living room?"

"Oh, uh…yeah. Sorry."

Tonks burst out in laughter. "It's alright, really, feel free to clean my apartment whenever you want. Someone has to do it and it's definitely not going to be me."

Remus placed the bottles securely in her trunk in the little space that remained.

"Well, I think that's everything," Tonks said, with a final glance around her apartment. "Are we going back now?"

"Not if you don't want to. We could stay here for a while, or we could go back to Diagon Alley for a bit."

"Oooh! Let's go shopping! I love shopping!"

"What for?"

"Maternity clothes."

"Tonks, you're not even starting to show yet."

"I will soon enough, and then I'll need some new clothes."

"You're just using this as an excuse to go out and get more clothes, aren't you?"

"Maybe. But I'm buying them so it's not like it really matters."

"Tonks, I can't let you pay for them, I'll pay. It is my fault—"

"Hey!" Tonks cut him off quickly. "If I can't say that it's all my fault, then you can't either."

"Fine."  
"And anyways, I can buy my own clothes. I have a job, and come on, I'm an Auror, I can afford to buy clothes for myself. Even if I wasn't pregnant, I'd be buying more clothes, it's just the way I am. You can never have too many clothes."

"That would explain the mass amounts of clothes I had to pack up in your trunk."

"Yep. But you're right, I'm not showing yet, so I'll wait a bit to go buy more clothes."

"Are you sure? Because if you want to go shopping, we can go shopping."

"No, really, that's alright, Remus. Anyway, maybe I can go with Ginny, that'd be more fun for all of us. Is that alright with you?"

"Of course."

"Hey, I know what we can do!" Tonks said excitedly. "We can go window shopping for baby stuff."

"Okay, sure. I know the perfect shop. Do you want to go now?"

"Yeah, let's go! Maybe we can get one of those baby name books to look at. Oh! And maybe we can get a pretzel while we're out, you know, those giant soft pretzels that are really awesome."

"You're hungry?"

"A bit."

"Alright, we'll get something to eat that's not junk food."

"Awww, you're no fun."

"I try."


	19. Staying the Night at Tonks'

Hello, dear readers! We proudly present to you another chapter in this saga. And, well, it's rather long, but hopefully it makes up for our taking a while to update. We've got some good stuff coming up in the next few chapters, so sit back and enjoy!

Just a quick note: Yes, we did finally change the title of this fic. It's now called 'Change is Inevitable', as I'm sure you've noticed…or maybe you haven't. But we feel that it's much better than the previous title of Harry Potter and the Final Duel.

Disclaimer:Dylan's world is all we own. We have our polyjuice potion ready and waiting, however, JK Rowling seems quite hesitant on giving us some of her hair. So therefore, we aren't JK Rowling. Yet.

**Chapter 19 – Staying the Night at Tonks'**

Remus and Tonks found themselves walking down Diagon Alley after having spent the last hour or so looking through a wizarding baby store. Remus had a hard time pulling Tonks away from the adorable baby clothes, but he finally managed to get her away and he was even able to buy a name book for her to browse.

After having walked aimlessly for a while, with Tonks alternately carrying the bear or letting her walk by herself, Remus remembered that Tonks had been hungry earlier.

"Are you still hungry?" he asked.

"Yeah, but then again, I'm almost always hungry."

"What would you like to eat? Do you want a small snack or are you ready for dinner?"

"Either is fine by me."

"Well, seeing as you seem to be quite hungry, how about we go straight for an early dinner?"

"But what about Molly? I'm sure she already has dinner planned, maybe even made."

"I'm sure the boys wouldn't mind eating our share. Besides, I think that Molly would be happier knowing that you ate when you were hungry, rather than waiting to eat something she makes for us. Actually, she might be more likely to lecture us if you go hungry just to please her."

"You're probably right," Tonks said, blushing slightly as her stomach growled audibly from hunger. "So, where do you want to go?"

"I could make something at your apartment if you want."

Succumbed to incontrollable laughter for a few moments, Tonks finally managed to say, "With what?"

"You don't have food at your place?"

"Well, there's some food…but it's all stuff that doesn't involve actual cooking, or even magical cooking. I always manage to screw it up either way."

Remus began to protest, but he stopped when he realized that he couldn't find any evidence to support Tonks having an ability to cook. All of the facts were piled against her.

Tonks noticed when this realization dawned on him, and she said, "Yeah. My point exactly. So, you wanna grab some pizza?"

Remus' glance clearly said no.

"Awww, come on, I know I need to eat healthy, but that doesn't mean I can't have pizza! Pizza is good for you." Remus continued to give her a stern look saying 'no'. So Tonks continued to argue her point, "Pizza has all of the major food groups, and I could have a salad and water with it. That would be good for me."

Remus was fighting a losing battle. "Oh fine, you can have pizza."

"Yay!" Tonks did a victory dance of a sort. But as she spun around, she managed to trip and Remus had to keep her from falling.

Choosing to not comment, Remus asked, "Where do we get pizza?"

"Oh, um…this way!" And Tonks led the way as they continued to talk.

"You do realize that you actually have to eat the salad, not just order it."

"Aww…alright. Hey, do you think they'll let the bear come in, too?" Tonks looked down at the baby bear in her arms.

"Why don't we drop her off back at your place?"

"But then she'll cry, and we don't want her to do that. Remember? She doesn't like being left alone. We could always get the food to go and eat it back at my apartment."

"Sure, we can do that. Do you have food for the bear?"

"Oh, no, but the shopkeeper told me a few things that she might like."

"And that is?"

"Bear milk formula, and then there's some actual food that she might eat, too. I'll need to pick up some stuff for her, we could do that before we go to the pizza parlor."

"Alright."

So they made their way to the magical pet managerie that Tonks originally got her bear at. Why she hadn't gotten the things she needed in the first place was a mystery, but this was Tonks, and she did what she wanted when she wanted.

After they had gotten what the bear needed, Remus and Tonks went to the pizza parlor on the Muggle side of the Leaky Cauldron, and they bought a pizza _and_ a salad before they headed back to Tonks' apartment.

Tonks sat down on her couch and made herself comfortable, setting her bear next to her and messing the blankets and pillows up again.

"Remus, where are you going?"

Remus stopped walking, "To the kitchen to eat."

"I don't eat in the kitchen. I eat here, in the living room."

"Why?"

"Because—Well, I really don't know why, I just do. Besides, the couch is much more comfortable than the chairs at the kitchen table.

"Alright, but can we at least use some plates?"

"Oh yes, we'll need those."

Shaking his head at her folly, Remus placed the food on the coffee table and went into the kitchen to get some plates

It was no surprise that the kitchen was a disaster. It was even worse than Tonks' bedroom, but he supposed that was to be expected. From the information he had gathered thus far, Tonks never actually went into her kitchen. Although how she could make such a mess without stepping foot in the room was a question that remained unanswered.

"Hey, Tonks, where could I find some plates that are, I don't know…clean?"

"I don't know if there are any," Tonks said as she got up to help.

"Why don't you wash these?"

"I can't! Ya know, for some strange reason, I don't seem to have a wand anymore. It seems as if _somebody_ took it away from me."

"Yes, yes, I know, but why didn't you wash them after you used them? The last time you were here, you still had your magic," Remus pulled Tonks over to him and put one arm around her.

"I didn't have time, and besides, I can't get any of those stupid house-chore spells to work right."

"Remind me to help you with those once you have your magic back."

"I'll try. So, um…are you going to clean them?" Tonks asked very hopefully.

"Yes, I will. I'll be done in just a minute. Why don't you go back to the living room and sit down."

"Oh! I need to make Little One's formula," Tonks went back in to the living room and ruffled through the bag of things she had bought for the bear until she came back into the kitchen with the formula.

Tonks sat down and began to read the directions on the back of the can, but she barely got through them before she decided that it was _way_ too complicated for her at the moment. Tonks hoped that maybe she could sweet talk Remus into doing it for her. She was just about to try when Remus came over and took the can from her.

"I can do that for you," Remus handed her two plates and two sets of silverware. "Why don't you go start eating, I'm sure you're starving by now."

"Thanks!" Tonks skipped off into the living room, very pleased at how that went. She didn't have to clean or cook, and she didn't even have to worm her way out of doing something that she really didn't want to do.

Tonks set the eating utensils on the coffee table next to the pizza and salad and began to eat some pizza. Remus came back into the living room with a bottle of formula in one hand and two glasses in the other.

"Do you at least have something to drink in here?" he asked.

"Of course!" Tonks got up cheerfully and went over to a small drink cart against the wall behind the couch. "What do you want?"

"Anything is fine."

Tonks brought out two bottles from the cart.

"Red wine for you and sparkling white grape juice for me."

"And that has—"

"No alcohol."

"Good," Remus poured the bottles in their respective glasses and then picked up the formula bottle for the bear. "Would you like me to—"

"No, that's okay, I want to give it a try. Besides, you haven't even started eating. I, on the other hand, have already eaten some."

"Are you sure you ate enough?" It looked like she had eaten a bit of salad and half a slice of pizza.

"For now, but I really want to try and feed her. It'll do me some good to learn how."

"You don't know how to feed a baby a bottle?"

"No, but I can wing it."

"Why don't I help you start?"

"Alright."

Tonks picked up the bear and Remus began to give her advice.

"Alright, hold the bab—uh, bear like…yeah, like that, that's good. Now," Remus handed her the bottle, "you just…here," Remus helped Tonks put the bottle in the bear's mouth and the bear immediately began to drink the formula. "Wow, Tonks, that's perfect! See, you're a natural mom, afterall."

"Really, I'm doing it right?"

"Perfectly."

With a big smile, Tonks proudly finished feeding her new baby bear with Remus looking on. After the bear had finished, Tonks and Remus went back to their slightly-cold pizza.

Remus finished before Tonks and patiently waited for her to finish, in the meantime forcing her to eat the salad that she had neglected to eat. Tonks set her plate down on the table, lying down contentedly on the couch, surrounded by her pillows.

Remus suggested, "How about I go clean these dishes for you, then we can floo back to headquarters."

"Okay, that's sounds good. Anyways, I'm getting kind of tired."

"Alright, I'll hurry then."

Remus gathered the dishes and made his way into the kitchen. Tonks rolled over to her side and pulled the bear close to herself, gently petting the soft baby-fur of the cub. It was very comforting.

A sudden, piercing cry forced Tonks to open her eyes quickly. Had she fallen asleep? Apparently she had, but as for how long, Tonks had no idea.

Right across from her face, the bear sat on the coffee table crying that loud cry that she had so brilliantly mastered. Surrounding the bear were shreds of paper, most likely from something important.

Tonks sat up, picking her bear up and petting her as she did so. "Hey, I'm here, stop crying, it's all right," Tonks quietly comforted the little cub before saying in a louder voice pointed towards the kitchen, "Remus, I know you didn't want me to get a bear, but you could have at least stopped her from crying."

Tonks waited a few moments, still petting the bear, but there was no response.

"Remus?"

No answer.

Tonks began to panic, but she forced herself to calm down. He just didn't hear her. She made her way into the kitchen. There was no Remus.

She searched her bedroom next. No Remus. The bathroom? No Remus. He wasn't in the apartment.

Now Tonks began to panic.

"Ok, ok," she told herself outloud. "This is no big deal, maybe he just went out for a walk or something…who am I kidding? He wouldn't do that, he's too worried about me now."

Tonks began to pace her living room, still talking to herself, "Is it a full moon? No, there's still a while until then. Something must have happened, but what?"

A thought crept into her mind and she dared not to say it aloud, _Maybe he left you._

"No!" Tonks shouted at the thought, "That's not like him, he loves me."

_Or does he?_

"Of course he does! He wouldn't say it if it weren't true."

Tonks continued pacing, trying to stop arguing with herself.

Rubbing her face in frustration, Tonks realized that her cheeks were wet.

"Oh Merlin, I'm crying!"

That only made her cry even more.

"What is wrong with me!" Tonks shouted to the walls, before continuing her pacing and ranting. "Something terrible must have happened. Maybe there was a Death Eater attack and Remus went to help. Or maybe something happened to the others, and Remus was sent to help, and he left me because I can't do magic. Or maybe…

"No! Stop it, Tonks. Whatever happened doesn't matter. What matters is what you're going to do about it. You can't just stand here arguing with yourself. Something's wrong, and somewhere Remus needs help."

Tonks sighed and attempted to clear her head.

"What should I do?" She mumbled to herself. "I can't do magic…well, I guess I could floo to the Ministry. I can alert some of the aurors and they'll help me find everyone and make sure they're safe. Ugh, my boss won't be happy to see me again, but oh well, he'll live…this is an emergency."

Tonks glanced around her apartment to find where she had put the floo powder. She knew it was around here somewhere…

A sudden noise made her look up and reach for the wand that was not there. Her door swung open. And there was…

"Remus?" Tonks could hardly believe her eyes. _But…hadn't something happened to him?_ Tonks could care less now. She ran to him and within seconds had her arms wrapped around his neck, catching Remus by surprise.

"Uh…Tonks?"  
"Where did you go?" She mumbled into his shirt, still holding onto him for dear life.

"Oh no, Tonks," Remus held her tightly, "I'm so sorry, did you not see the note?"

"There was a note?"

"Yes, there was. Oh, Tonks, I'm so sorry. I should have woken you and told you where I was going. I went to the Owl office to owl Molly a letter telling her why we missed dinner and that we would be staying here tonight."

Noticing that Tonks was crying silently into his chest, Remus felt his heart twist within him. "Oh please, Tonks, stop crying. Sweetheart, it's alright now, I'm here."

Still sobbing, Tonks lifted her head up a bit so she could look at Remus. "It's just…I woke up to Little One crying, and then…I noticed that you weren't here and…" Tonks sniffed, "I started freaking out. I thought maybe something happened. That's when I got really scared. I didn't think that you'd leave me unless something awful happened."

"Oh Merlin. Tonks, I am so, terribly, sorry. I didn't want to worry Molly, and by doing so, I worried you. I'm so sorry," Remus wiped Tonks' tears away, "I was sure that you would see the note."

"Where did you put it?"

"On the coffee table," Remus walked into the living room, dragging Tonks gently by the arm, and pointed to where he had put the note, noticing that there were some paper shreds scattered across the table. "I put it right there."

Tonks began to laugh softly.

"What?" Remus asked, slightly confused by the sudden change of emotion.

"I, uh…I think I know what happened to your note. You see, when I woke up, Little One was sitting right there, right on top of a pile of shredded paper. She must have shredded the note."

Looking at the cute bear sleeping innocently in a pile of blankets on the couch, Remus said to her, "Well thank you, little bear, that was so very kind of you."

"Hey, she didn't mean to!"

"Yes, I know. Are you okay now?"

"Yeah, I think so," Tonks wiped the rest of her tears away, "I just freaked out a lot. So…you said we're staying here?"

"Yeah, I didn't think that you'd want to deal with traveling back to headquarters given how tired you are."

"I'm not that tired."

"Uh huh, sure. That's why you fell asleep on the couch within minutes of laying down. Come on, you," Remus lightly pushed her towards her bedroom. "It's time for bed."

Yawning, Tonks said, "Yeah, yeah, I guess. Oh, wait! My pajamas…they're all packed in the trunk."

"I'll get them for you. Which ones do you want?"

"The ones with cats and dogs, I like those."

"Alright," Remus opened her trunk, still on the living room floor, and searched through the neatly organized piles within. He instantly found a pair of pajama pants with images of cats and dogs scattered across them. He went through another pile to find the matching shirt, and then, straightening it back up, he said, "Do you need anything else?"

"No, but could you make me some hot chocolate?"

"Sure, I'll make that for you while you get ready for bed."

"Okay."

"And you're sure that you're alright now?"

"Yeah, I just got a bit worried, but I'm fine now. I don't know why I freaked out so badly."

"Alright, if you're sure you're fine. And did I mention that I was extremely sorry?"

"Yes, I believe you did. And your apology is accepted, just please, don't ever do that again. You really scared me."

"Don't worry, I won't. I've learned my lesson. Now go get ready for bed."

"Yes, sir," Tonks answered playfully, heading off in the direction of her bathroom while Remus went into the kitchen to make her hot chocolate, a wonderful cure for someone ill-at-ease.

It didn't take Tonks but a few seconds before she came back out into the living room and sat down on the couch. She noticed the baby name book sitting on the coffee table, and out of boredom, she began to flip through its pages.

_First thing's first, _she thought to herself, _we need to name the bear. Let's see…_Tonks flipped through the pages, _Amber, that's pretty…Crystal, I like that, too…_

Remus came in with two big, steaming mugs of hot chocolate.

"Here you go," he said as he handed one to Tonks and sat down next to her.

"Thanks," Tonks looked up briefly from the book.

There was a silence for a few minutes while Tonks continued to read and Remus noticed that the cats and dogs on Tonks' pajamas were chasing each other around.

"So, what are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm trying to find good names, but none of them seem good enough or original enough. I don't want to name her something stupid like—"

"Wait what?" Remus interrupted her quickly.

"Uh…?"

"You said her? The baby is a girl? How do you know?"

"Oh, no," Tonks began laughing, "I wasn't talking about a name for the baby, I was talking about a name for the bear."

"Oh."

_Wait,_ Tonks thought, _did he sound disappointed?_

"Hey, Remus?"

"Yes?"

"Which do you want…a boy or a girl?"

"Is this a trick question?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, like the ones where you're supposed to say 'whatever you want, honey,' or like 'either way is perfectly fine with me'?"

"No, this is one of those questions where I want your true and honest opinion."

"Oh, ok, well, I haven't really given it much thought. You see, I never thought that I would have children."

"Well guess what?"

"I am."

"Yep. So, what do you want, a boy or a girl?"

"A girl," he answered without hesitation.

"Really?"

"Yeah…why?"

"I dunno, I guess I just thought that all men wanted boys. You know, to carry on their name and to teach them quidditch and how to pick up women."

"No, that's why men like James wanted a boy. Me, I know better. Boys are a handfull. Not to say that if we did have a boy I wouldn't love him or want him, I would, of course," Remus added quickly and truthfully.

"I know."

"Tonks?"

"Yeah?"

"You said to carry on my name…you want the baby to have my last name?"

"Of course! I want the baby to have their father's last name.

"Oh, uh…thanks. But are you su—"

"Yes, I am very sure."

"Okay, well, um…thanks. So, which do you want?"

"A boy… I think."

"You think? Really, you can think?"

"Yes, contrary to popular belief, I _can_ think."

"Well what do_ think_ it is, a boy or a girl?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"Good point. So, have you come up with any good names?"

"No, nothing seems good enough. Everything in this book is way too overused. I don't want our baby to have a typical name. But I do think that I came up with a name for the bear. Umm…but I'm not so sure if you'll like it."

"Well, what is it?"

"Wear."

"Where's what?"

"No, not where as in 'where is that' but were, like werewolf…except not spelled like that, because that is just way too weird."

"Uh, yeah…Tonks, why don't we decide this when you're less tired?"

"I'm not that tired!" She protested

"Tonks, you just suggested to name your new pet a very annoying and confusing pun. I think you are."

"I thought it was cute."

"Besides, it sounds like more of a boy's name, if you could even call it a name."

"Of course it's a name! Anything can be a name. And it could be for a girl bear, too."

"Ok, whatever you say, Tonks. Now, what about names for the baby? There must be some that you like."

"Well, no, not really. They're all too boring. Our baby needs something special. But something that's good, too. We wouldn't want to curse our child from the start with a name like Nymphadora."

"Tonks, when will you realize that there is nothing wrong with your real name? I rather like the name Nymphadora, it's very pretty, just like you."

"I don't care what you say about it, I think my name is terrible. It's too…I don't even know what it's too much of! But I don't like it. I never have, and I never will."

Tonks flipped through the book some more, clearly indicating that the topic was closed. never pausing long on a page.

"I know! How about Voldemort?" Tonks looked at Remus to see his reaction.

He blinked blankly at her.

"It was a joke," she clarified.

"I thought so, but I seem to have missed the part where it was funny."

"Oh ha ha. Severus?"

"No way in hell are you naming a child of mine that."

"Peter?"

"Also no way in hell."

Tonks opened her mouth to say another one, but Remus put his hand over her mouth and she merely mumbled incoherently into his palm.

"I am going to stop you there before this gets out of control and you wind up trying to name our child Fenrir Greyback."

Remus removed his hand just as Tonks tried to bite it. Either way, she could talk now.

"Aww, come on, I was just joking," she protested about the names.

"Yes, I know."

"How about Lily if it's a girl?"

"You're not joking about this one, right?"

"Nope, I'm dead serious. Even though I'm not dead and I'm not Sirius."

"Oh ha ha, wonderful use of an overused pun."

"Why thank you, I thought so!"

"Back to the name…I rather like Lily. Lillian something Lupin. It's the least we could do for Lily."

"It's perfect. But does her middle name have to be 'something'?" Tonks said teasingly.

"You know what I meant."

"Yes, but it was fun to make fun of you. I do like that name, though. We just need to find a good middle name. Oh, and if it's a boy…what about Sirius?"

"Yeah, I would like that. I think Sirius would have liked it, too."

"Well, awesome, we already have some names."

"Not middle ones."

"Yeah, I'll work on that. It's not like I have anything better to do," Tonks finished off her hot chocolate. Then she grabbed Remus' chocolate off of the table and began to drink that, too.

"Hey!" He pulled his mug out of her hands. "I do believe that's mine!"

"Awww…fine. I'll just go make some more."

Remus found himself laughing.

"What? I can make hot chocolate!"

"Uh huh, sure you can."

Tonks stuck her toungue out at him and went into the kitchen.

_Let's see,_ she thought, _first we need to boil water…I can do that!_

Tonks put some water to boil in a kettle.

_Now I need to find some hot chocolate mix and a spoon._

She began to randomly open cabinets and drawers, trying to find what she needed. Normally she would have known exactly where something was, or at least it's general position in the kitchen. However, Remus actually put things back where they belonged when he was done using them. Therefore, Tonks had no earthly idea where anything was in her kitchen. In fact, her kitchen didn't even resemble her kitchen. Or at least, how it used to be. It was actually clean.

_It must be in that cabinet up there, _Tonks thought. _I've checked all of the others._

So Tonks climbed up on the counter in order to reach the cabinet. Rummaging around in it, she searched for the hot chocolate mix. Suddenly, she felt someone grab her around the waist and lift her off from the counter to set her back down on the floor.

"Ummm…hi," Tonks smiled innocently at Remus.

"What are you doing?" he asked, sounding as if he was about to scold a child.

"Trying to find the hot chocolate mix."

"While standing on the counter?"

"Yeah…not the smartest idea, I guess."

"No, it isn't, is it? Why didn't you call me?"

"Because I wanted to do it on my own," Tonks said defiantly.

"Uh huh, I see. Okay, new rule: You're not allowed to stand on anything that's not meant to be stood on. You see, Tonks, you have this tendency to fall. It's called gravity. And when you stand on something that's not meant to be stood on, the likeliness of you falling is much greater. So I'm limiting the things that you can stand on: only floors or stairs. Now, may I please make the hot chocolate?"

"I guess…I'm sorry."

Remus lost his scolding-voice, "It's okay, you just need to learn that you're not unbreakable now."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, I'll try harder."

"Good."

Remus summoned the mix down from the cabinet, magically closed the door, then poured the water and mix into her mug.

"Thanks," Tonks said as she grabbed her mug from him.

"You're welcome. Are you ready for bed yet?"

"No, not yet."

"Ok, you want to go talk some more?"

"Yeah, that sounds good. So, what names were you thinking of for a girl's middle name?"

"Hmm…Emily?" Remus suggested.

"No. What about Zoey?"

"No, how about Courtney?" Remus sat down in a chair in the living room and Tonks sat down in his lap.

"Ew. Alex?"

"For a girl?"

"Yeah."

"No."

"Oh fine, what about Jordan?"

"Again, for a girl?" Remus asked.

"Yeah."

"No. Can we please stick to girl's names if we're discussing girl's names?"

"I guess."

They continued discussing names for a while. Tonks finished her hot chocolate and set the cup on the coffee table, and they were still discussing names. Finally, Tonks fell asleep. So Remus picked her up to carry her to bed. She woke up halfway there.

"Um…hi…" Tonks said, looking around to find that she was being carried.

"Hello, sleepy-head. You fell asleep again, so I thought that I'd put you in bed."

"Okay. Um…you can put me down now."

"Nonsense. We're almost there. Besides, I highly doubt that you're awake enough to walk without falling."

"Can I normally?"

"No. All the more reason as to why I'm still carrying you."

"Remus, this is silly. I am more than capable of walking by myself."

"Well that's nice."

"Remus," Tonks whined.

"Look, we're here," Remus put her down on the unmade bed and she began to fumble around with all of her blankets to arrange them how she liked them.

"Hey, where are you going?" she asked when she noticed that Remus was leaving the room.

"I was going to the bathroom. The last time I checked, it was still legal to go to the bathroom."

"Okay, but then you're going to sleep in here with me, right?"

"Is that what you want me to do?"

"Of course."

"Then I will," Remus said, hiding his happiness.

"But, you don't have to if you don't want to."

"No, I would much rather sleep with you in here than out there on the couch."

"Because you feel like you have to protect me, right?"

"That and because I want to sleep here. I love waking up with you in my arms."

"So you're not doing this because you feel obligated to?"

"Of course I'm not."

"Okay."

"Ok, so I can sleep in here?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Now, I'll be right back."

"Okay."

Remus came back a few minutes later, holding the bear that they had forgotten in the living room.

"Are you asleep again?" Remus whispered to Tonks as he set the bear at the foot of the bed.

"No, almost."

"Yeah, I thought so," he climbed into the bed next to Tonks, trying not to think about the mass amounts of neon pink blankets that he was lying on.

Tonks scooted over next to Remus and he put his arm around her before pulling the blankets up to cover her completely.

"Good night, love," he told her.

"Night Remus…I love you."

"I love you, too."

Tonks pulled her head up a bit to see her bear, "Good night, little bear."

"I hope you aren't waiting for a response," Remus said when she didn't place her head back on her pillow.

"No, I was waiting for you."

"To do what?"  
"To say good night to the bear."

"You have got to be kidding me."

Tonks just stared at him patiently.

"Oh fine. Good night little bear. Now may I go to sleep?"

"Yes, you may."

"Oh, well thank you for the approval."

"Uh huh," Tonks said as she yawned, settling herself comfortably within Remus' arms.

-------------------

_Tonks knew that she was dreaming, but everything seemed so real, it was hard not to believe that she was actually living it. But she had no idea where she was._

_Suddenly, Remus appeared in front of her, standing in the doorway. He looked scared, and that scared Tonks. Hardly anything could frighten Remus. _

"_Run, Tonks!" he shouted, looking behind him with wide eyes as if something was following him. "Run! They're coming. Run, and don't look back."_

"_But—Remus, what about you?"_

"_I'll stay and hold them off, just get out of here, Tonks!"_

"_No! I'm not leaving you."_

"_You have to," Remus kissed her passionately, " Now go! Save yourself and our baby!"_

_There were tears rolling down Tonks' face; she couldn't see clearly because of them. She ran as fast as she could out of the back door of the room, looking back only once to see Remus taking a fighting stance, his wand at the ready._

_Tonks ran down hallway after hallway, passing door after door of this endless house. Tears flowed freely down her face. Had that door been there a second ago? No, it hadn't been. This house seemed to have a will of its own, changing freely as it pleased. But was it helping her, or merely trying to stop her escape?_

_All of a sudden, a staircase appeared just in front of Tonks. She could see a window and door at the end of it; it was a way outside, a path to survival. She needed only to get down the stairs and out of that door and she would be safe. However, the stairs had appeared quickly, and caught her off guard. They appeared too close to her. She couldn't stop running in time. _

_Tonks tripped and fell. She tried to grab a hold of the railing, but it was no use. She swung around and hit the wall hard, the impact causing her to let go of the railing again. She continued falling, and somehow, the stairs seemed to be getting longer. Her vision began to blur from something other than tears, and suddenly her surroundings turned dark. She was knocked unconscious. _

_Tonks came to at the bottom of the stairs. She could hear footsteps; no doubt the Death Eaters had followed her down here. But that didn't matter any more. She thought—no, she knew—that she had lost her baby. She had lost Remus, and now their child. There was nothing left living for. Let the Death Eaters take her._

-------------------

From his position on the balcony, Remus noticed that Tonks was thrashing around, tangling herself in her blankets. He quickly made his way over to her and shook her awake.

"Remus!" She shouted, hugging him through her tears.

"It's ok, Tonks, I'm here."

"It's just...it was a dream…but it was so real!"

"Like you said, it was just a dream."

"But it seemed so real…and there were Death Eaters, and they came for us… and you made me run, I had to leave you behind…they got you…it was terrible…" Tonks was crying so hard that her words became incoherent. Remus could only catch parts of what she was saying. "And the stairs…then I fell…and…and…I…I lost it. I lost the baby. And the Death Eaters…they found me, and…and I—I let them get me."

"Tonks, it's ok. It wasn't real and it never will be. I won't let that happen, I promise you," Remus held onto Tonks, trying to comfort her.

"But—"

"Shh, it's ok, Tonks. It was just a dream."

Remus managed to get Tonks to calm down a bit, although she still couldn't stop crying.

"What time is it?" Tonks asked, rubbing her bloodshot eyes.

"It's 3:50 in the morning. Do you want to try to go back to sleep?"

"I guess…but what if—"

"If you have another nightmare, I will be right here. I'll protect you. You'll be fine. Just try to remember that it's not real." Whether Remus was saying that to himself or Tonks, he wasn't sure. His own nightmare had woken him up not too long ago. But he didn't need to bother Tonks with that at the moment…or ever, for that matter.

"Okay," Tonks said. "Are you going to sleep?"

"No, I don't think so. I'm not so sure that I could go back to sleep now. But don't worry, I'm not going to go anywhere. I will stay right here. Now go to sleep, love, and sweet dreams."

"I hope so."

"Me too," Remus bent down to give her a simple kiss on the lips before she went back to sleep.

He lied down next to her, keeping one arm around her waist with his hand lying lightly on her stomach, protecting what should be his. And he would fix that little problem as soon as he could figure out how to get Tonks to understand that he wanted to marry her because he loved her and wanted her for him and him alone for the rest of his life. And not just because of the baby, either. Although that was one reason, it was most definitely not the only one.

In those hours while Remus lay awake, he began to form a plan of action to make Tonks his forever.


	20. Stupid and Life Threatening

It's spring break for us, and know what that means? MRIs and getting wisdom teeth removed. Yup, not exactly the best of times. But despite that, we've managed to write up another chapter for all of our awesome readers. So enjoy, and don't forget to review!

Disclaimer: Tonks and Remus may be cute together, but sadly we did not create them. We relinquish that honor to JK Rowling, along with the rest of the characters (excluding Dylan and Wear) and places (excluding Tonks' apartment) in our fic.

**Ch. 20 – Stupid and Life-Threatening**

Tonks slowly opened her eyes. She wasn't sure what time it was (her clock still wasn't right), but it felt like it was way too early to be waking up. Tonks rolled over and realized that Remus wasn't there.

Jolting up and out of bed, Tonks ran over to the balcony, hoping that he was out there. He wasn't. As she walked despairingly back into her room, Tonks realized that he had left her a note. In fact, he had left her many notes. Every square inch of her room was covered in little pieces of parchment, all with the same identical note on them. There was one on her bedside table, a few magically stuck to the back of each door in her room, one on her desk, and at least twenty stuck onto various places on her walls.

Laughing silently, Tonks went to the nearest one and pulled it off of the wall.

_Dear Tonks,_

_I do hope you found this and all of the other notes all right. I wanted to be sure that you wouldn't miss them. Anyway, I have gone out to the market to stock up on some food for you. I wanted to make some breakfast, and, as you said earlier, there isn't any food here. I shouldn't be gone long. Please don't do anything stupid or possibly life-threatening._

_Love,  
__Remus_

Well, he definitely did a much better job this time at making sure that she found the note. There was no way the bear could possibly destroy all of them. Anyway, she was quite content with sleeping on Tonks' bed at the moment.

With some time to herself, Tonks decided to take a shower. She was almost done when she thought she heard her front door open.

_Oh Merlin, _Tonks thought, _please be Remus, please be Remus. _

If it were a burglar, or worse, a Death Eater, there would be no way for Tonks to defend herself. She had no wand, no magic, and no clothes on.

Unconsciously holding her breath, Tonks heard footsteps come to rest at her bathroom door. The person knocked.

"Tonks?" they asked.

Tonks let out her breath. It was Remus.

"I'm in the shower," she replied.

"I know, I can hear the water running. But why are you taking a shower? I thought I asked you not to do anything stupid or possibly life-threatening while I was gone."

"How is taking a shower life-threatening?" Tonks asked, still in her shower.

"With you, just about anything is."

"Ok, fine. I'm almost done."

Tonks rinsed her hair, turned the water off, wrapped a towel around herself, and stepped out of bathtub. Then she slipped on the wet tile. She managed to quickly grab ahold of the towel rack and stop herself from falling. As her heart beat rapidly with fear, Tonks sat herself down on the edge of the tub.

_Damn it, _she thought, _he was right._

"Tonks, are you alright?" Remus asked worriedly through the door.

"Uh huh," Tonks muttered, staring blankly at the floor.

"What just happened?"

_Damn his wolf-like hearing ability._

"Nothing," Tonks answered, trying to sound perfectly fine.

"I don't believe you."

"Well, I kinda fell, but—"

Before she could finish saying the rest of the sentence, Remus threw the door open and ran over to her.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I was trying to tell you that."

"Sorry, I just got worried."

"I can see that. It's alright, I don't mind you coming in here or almost tearing my door off its hinges, however, I do mind that you're so protective of me. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate it when you stop me from doing stupid things and everything, but come on, Remus, I think I can take a shower!"

"It's just that—"

"Yes, yes, I know. You don't want anything to happen to me or the baby."

"I promised that I wouldn't let anything happen to you two."

"I know, but I wish that could you give me a little more space. It's just that I'm so used to being extremely independent and now, all of a sudden, I can't do anything by myself. My main means of defending myself is gone, and it's hard for me to let myself be dependent on others. I know that I need to be right now, but I just need some time and a little more space."

"Oh, well sure, I can do that."  
"Don't take this the wrong way, Remus. I love you and I really appreciate what you've been doing for me, it's just that—"

"I do understand, really, I do. I'll try to give you some more space."

"Okay. But don't give me too much space, you're probably the only reason that I haven't miscarried yet."

"Tonks!"

"What? It's true! If it weren't for you, I would have fallen so many times by now and most likely I would have lost the baby."

"Well now I'm just confused. Do you want more or less space?"

"More. But not too much more. Well, basically—can't I be allowed to at least take a shower?"

"Yes, I think I can let you do that."

"Thank you," Tonks looked very relieved.

"You're welcome. Now, are you hungry yet? Or were you sick this morning?"

"Actually, I wasn't sick this morning, which is weird. I've been sick every morning for the past few days."

"Maybe you're through with it, then."

"Probably not. Most likely, I'll just be sick later…So, what's for breakfast?"

"How does French toast sound?"

"Brilliant."

"Good, I'll go get that started while you get dressed."

Remus helped Tonks up and led her to her room, his arm around her the whole way. Once Tonks was in her room, Remus headed for the kitchen to make breakfast.

Tonks searched her room for clothes and, realizing that she had packed all of her favorite clothes, she went into the living room to dig through her trunk. She made quite a mess of it, and was sure that Remus would be mad with her spoiling all of his hard work. So she merely stuffed everything back in and slammed the lid down, latching it shut to hide the mess. Then she made her way back to her room to get dressed.

Bored, Tonks came up with the idea of helping Remus with breakfast. As she walked into the kitchen, she asked, "Hey, can I help?"

"Do you actually want to?"

"Mmm…No. But can I watch?"

"Well that's very helpful. But sure."

"Okay!" Tonks leaned against a counter, watching Remus as he pulled out a pan of some sort from one of her cabinets. "What is that?" Tonks asked.

"It's yours, shouldn't you know?"

"No, I think it was a gift from my mum…or somebody else, I'm not sure. Either way, it just got shoved into a random cabinet for all of eternity."

"Well, it's a—"

At that moment, Tonks ignored Remus as she noticed that the bear was sitting at her feet, looking up at her and whining.

"Hey, what's wrong, little one?" she asked.

"I think she's hungry," Remus said as he continued making breakfast, abandoning the thought of teaching Tonks.

"Oh yeah, I bet she is. Remus, where's the bag of food that we bought for her?"

"I believe it's on the kitchen table."

"Thanks," Tonks went to the table and began to dig through the bag, pulling out a package of mixed nuts and another of berries, both foods that the shopkeeper had suggested trying to feed the bear. Then Tonks went searching around random cabinets of the kitchen before Remus stopped her.  
"What are you looking for?" he asked.

"A small bowl."

Remus went straight to a cabinet, pulled out a plastic bowl, and handed it to Tonks.

"Thanks!"  
"Do you need me to make her some formula again?"

"I don't know…it matters whether she'll eat this or not."

Tonks poured some of the berries into the bowl and put it on the floor next to the bear. The bear sniffed it, and then looked up at Tonks with a pleading look.

"Awww," Tonks said as she sat down on the floor next to the bear, "she's not eating it."

Tonks pulled the bear onto her lap and grabbed a handful of berries in an attempt to see if the bear would at least eat from her hand. The bear continued to stare at it. So Tonks ended up shoving the berries right into the bear's nose until she finally took a few from Tonks' hand.

"Oh, look, Remus, she's eating!"

"That's wonderful, Tonks, but do you think you could move this to the table? You're kind of in my way."

"Oh, sorry," Tonks picked up the bowl and bear and moved to the table.

They were silent for a few minutes while Tonks cheerfully fed berries to the bear.

Tonks finally said, "So you don't like the name Wear?"

"For the bear?"

"Yes, Wear the bear."

"Tonks, do you not realize how confusing that could get?"

"Yes…but it's cute, and so is she. It fits perfectly!"

"If you say so."  
"So it's okay?"

"It's your pet."  
"But you have to call her by the name I pick."

"Wear is fine."

"Yay! Did you hear that?" Tonks asked the bear excitedly, "You have a name, and it's Wear! Do you like it?"

The bear continued chewing a berry.

"Well, that's a good enough answer for me."

Once Tonks became bored, she sat the bowl of berries on the floor along with the bear, who refused to eat any more now that she was no longer being hand-fed. Remus brought over two glasses of orange juice and two plates of French toast with not a piece of meat in sight. Since Tonks was already at the table, he managed to get her to eat there, albeit with much complaining.

As they contently ate their breakfast, Tonks got onto the subject of discussing possible names for a boy. She soon ran out of ideas and would have run into the living room for the book, however Remus forced her to finish her meal.

Once they finished eating, Tonks walked through her apartment once more to make sure that she had packed everything she would need for a longer stay back at headquarters. Satisfied that she had, Tonks stepped into the living room and looked at Remus who discovered that her trunk had mysteriously unorganized itself. Therefore, he took it upon himself to reorganize it.

"Done yet?" Tonks asked, lovingly laughing at Remus being a neat freak.

"Yes," Remus closed the lid on the trunk, "Do you have everything?"

"I think so, but I feel like we're forgetting something."  
"Tonks?"

"Yeah?"

"Where's Wear?"

"Oh no!" Tonks began feeling guilty. How could she forget about her new pet? Was she that self-centered? No, worrying about herself at this moment wouldn't help anything. She needed to find Wear.

Remus had already left the living room and began his search for the bear in the bathroom. Tonks began searching the living room, looking in and under everything. They both searched for a few minutes when, in her panic, Tonks accidentally ran into Remus as he came back into the room.

Remus grabbed Tonks by the shoulders, saying calmly, "It's okay, calm down, we'll find her. It's not like she can Apparate."

"But what if she can?" Tonks said frantically.

"She can't, Tonks, she's a bear. Now, where haven't we looked yet?"

"Umm…my room and the kitchen."

"Ok, I'll search the kitchen."

"And I'll do my room."

Tonks quickly ran into her room and began throwing things everywhere, searching under the blankets and clothes. Finally, she glanced towards the balcony and saw that the door was open a crack. Feeling a wave of calmness spread across her, Tonks stepped out onto the balcony and spotted Wear, curled up in a ball against the wall of the apartment.

"There you are, we've been looking for you," Tonks said as she picked up Wear and hugged her close. Still holding Wear, Tonks sat on top of the balcony railing, a structure that was easily wide enough for a person to sit atop comfortably. Leaning against the wall to her apartment, sitting with her knees bent up in front of her, Tonks lovingly cuddled her bear.

Tonks heard Remus walk into her room as he said, "Tonks, I couldn't find her…Tonks?"

"I'm out here," she called.

Remus walked out onto the balcony, and immediately began shouting, "What the bloody hell are you doing!"

"Huh?" Tonks was surprised to see Remus yell, let alone curse.

Remus put one of his arms under her knees and the other behind her back, proceeding to pick her up and carry her back into the apartment as she struggled.

"Hey!" Tonks protested, wriggling in Remus' arms while still holding onto Wear.

Remus set her down on her bed, "'Hey'? What do you mean, 'hey'? You were sitting on the railing of a balcony that is five stories high! You could have fallen!"

"Well, I'm sorry, Remus, but it's actually quite safe," Tonks said with a wavering voice, "The railing is wide enough that I couldn't have fallen."

"Yes, you could have, and then both you and the baby would have died, not to mention your precious bear."

Tonks was trying, unsuccessfully, to hold back her tears. Never had she seen Remus so mad at her.

Sniffing, Tonks whispered, "I-I'm sorry."

"Sorry can't fix everything. You need to learn that. If you had fallen, do you think a simple 'sorry' would have reversed time?"

"No," Tonks said almost inaudibly through her amounting tears.

Remus let out a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to control his sudden rage. There were very few things that could spark his anger, and the thought of Tonks being hurt was definitely one of them.

Not wanting to upset Tonks anymore, Remus refrained from talking until he could calm himself down. Once he did, Remus sat down next to Tonks and pulled her close, hugging her reassuringly and letting her cry into his chest.

"I'm sorry, Tonks," he told her quietly, "you just scared me. Seeing you sitting on the edge like that…I don't know what came over me. I didn't mean to yell. I'm very sorry."

"It's not your fault," Tonks replied as she pulled away from him, tears still streaming down her face, "you had to do that, it's the only way to get it through my thick skull. I'm stupid and—"

"No, you're not! Don't ever say that, Tonks. You're very smart, you just aren't used to having so many boundaries placed on you. Please stop crying, Love. It kills me to see you cry."

Wiping her tears away, Tonks whispered accusingly, "No more yelling?"  
"No more yelling. I promise that I will never yell at you again. I'm very sorry. You just really scared me, Tonks. I don't want to lose you. I don't know what I would do without you."

"Okay."  
"No more sitting on things high up?"

"Uh huh."

"Good, now come here," Remus pulled Tonks back to him and gently wiped away her tears. After he had kissed both of her cheeks, he asked, "Are you done crying?"

Tonks nodded.

"Good. Now, are we ready to leave?"

"Yeah. I found Wear, she was on the balcony."

"I see."

"Well, let's go then."

"Ok," Remus stood up from the bed. "Tonks?"

"Yes?"  
"I am truly sorry that I yelled at you. I—"

"It's ok, I understand. Just please don't do it again. I don't like it."

"I won't," Remus pulled Tonks to her feet and picked up Wear, handing the bear to Tonks.

They walked out into the living room and Remus gathered the trunk, a stack of papers and books, and the bag of food for Wear. He magically shrunk the items and placed them in the pocket of his robes while Tonks found her floo powder.

Remus lit a fire in Tonks' fireplace, magicking it so that it would die out within only a few minutes, leaving no worries of a lingering fire in the empty apartment. Tonks grabbed a handful of floo powder and handed the rest to Remus.

Holding tightly onto Wear, Tonks threw her handful of powder into the fire, stepped in, and said clearly, "Number twelve Grimmauld Place."

She stepped out of the fireplace at Order headquarters, brushed herself off, and turned around to see Remus emerge safelyfrom the flames.


	21. Brotherly Love

So here's another wonderful chapter. They just keep getting better in our opinion. Read, and don't forget to review with your comments, critiques, and/or praises. Seriously, everyone likes a couple of praises every now and then.

Disclaimer: Want a disclaimer? Look at the disclaimers for every single chapter prior to this one. They are all still in effect. There's your disclaimer.

**Chapter 21 – Brotherly Love **

Remus and Tonks had just emerged from the fireplace in the kitchen of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. Remus used his magic to clean the ashes off of both of their clothes. Not even a full minute had passed before Molly came bustling into the kitchen, not the least bit surprised to see two her two missing charges suddenly there.

"Oh, how are you, dear?" Molly asked Tonks, fussing over her.

"I—I'm quite fine, Molly," she answered, flustered about everyone worrying over her.

"Oh, but Tonks, dear, I could have helped you. I have plenty advice to offer about pregnancy, having gone through it so many times myself. You should have come back last night."

In an attempt to save Tonks, Remus said, "Molly, I thought it best that Tonks not travel last night, given how tired she was. And you have nothing to worry about. I've been taking good care of her."

While Remus continued to argue his point, Tonks stood next to him, clinging tightly onto his arm. Her grip got tighter and tighter until finally, she ran out of the room looking very pale and holding one hand over her mouth. It did nothing to prove to Molly that Tonks was fine.

Tonks ran to the hall bathroom, which, thank Merlin, was surprisingly unoccupied. She emptied the entire contents of her stomach into the toilet. It was worse than normal, for many valid reasons. She had eaten quite a large breakfast, flooed shortly after doing so, and had emerged right into a kitchen that reeked with the smell of freshly cooked bacon. She really should have expected it.

There was a knock at the door, and without waiting for a response, Remus burst in to help Tonks. Molly followed in his wake.

"Are you alright?" Remus asked, worried.

"I think I'm okay now," she answered.

Remus helped Tonks to stand up, letting her use him for support. It was a good thing, too, because she didn't think that she'd be able to stand up on her own.

"Are you sure you're alright, dear?" Molly asked, once more fussing over her. "Maybe you should sit back down?"

"I should be fine now. Anyway, I don't think there's anything left to come up."

"Oh, you poor dear," Molly said sympathetically, "why don't you go upstairs and rest a while. When you're stomach settles down, you let me know and I'll make you something to eat. How about some soup?"

"Thanks, Molly. Soup sounds great."

"Of course, dear, anytime. Now," Molly turned to Remus, "you get this girl up to bed!"

"Yes, Ma'am."

As Molly left the bathroom, Remus asked Tonks, "Are you fine with walking all the way up to our room, or do you want me to carry you?"

Obviously, he was hoping that she would allow him to carry her. She must have looked awful. She certainly felt awful.

"I—Would you mind carrying me? I'm not so sure that I could make it on my own. But only if you're sure that you don't—"

Tonks was cut off as Remus lifted her up, saying, "I don't mind at all."

He carried her carefully up the stairs and placed her gently on their bed.

"Do you need anything?" He asked.

"Um…maybe some tea would help my stomach."

"Okay," Remus kissed her forehead, "I will be right back with some tea, then."

"Thank you!"  
"No problem, it's the least I can do."

As Remus left the room, Tonks thought, _I should change into my pajamas. Aww…they're all still downstairs in my trunk. I don't want to make Remus go back down again. Hmm…_

Tonks began searching the room, looking for the pajamas that she had already had there. However, she couldn't seem to find any. Apparently, they were currently being washed. So, Tonks settled for some of Remus' pajamas, because, of course, he wouldn't mind at all if she borrowed them.

They were blue, plaid, and huge on Tonks. The sleeves went down past Tonks' hands, and the shirt itself went down to the middle of her thigh. The pants just barely stayed on her, and the legs were way too wide and long. But that only made the pajamas even more comfortable, and they were warm. Not to mention, they smelled just like Remus.

Now much more comfortable, Tonks laid down in the middle of the large bed that was Remus and Tonks' to share. She propped herself up with various pillows strewn across the bed.

Remus came back within a few minutes, carrying a tea tray in one hand and Wear in the other. He set both on the foot of the bed before lying down next to Tonks. He put an arm around her shoulder, allowing Tonks to rest her head on his chest.

"I do believe these are mine," Remus said as he tugged lightly on Tonks' sleeve.

"They are. I didn't think that you would mind. All of mine are in the trunk downstairs."

"Oh, and so you thought that you could just steal mine?"

"Well, yeah."

"Okay," Remus sat up more and held Tonks at arms length to get a better look at her. "They don't even fit you."

"So? I like them…they smell like you."

"I think that might have something to do with the fact that I wear them."

"Really, you think?"

"Yes, I do. So, would you like some tea?"

"Yes, please."

Remus got up, moved the tea tray to sit on a table, and poured a cup.

"Milk? Sugar?" he asked.

"Both. You should know that."

"Yes, but I was just making sure," Remus poured a bit of milk into the cup of tea, and added a few good spoonfuls of sugar to the mix. Tonks liked her sugar. Then he handed her the cup.

"Why thank you."

Remus went to make a cup for himself. Before sitting back down with Tonks, he grabbed a newspaper that he had brought up on the tray. Then he sat down next to Tonks, both of them propped up on pillows, drinking their tea, Remus reading the paper.

"So, what's new?" Tonks asked after Remus had scanned a bit of the paper.

"Oh, nothing much. You know, same-old-same-old," Remus answered sarcastically, "Voldemort wreaking havoc, the killing of many innocents, mass chaos, you know, all that good stuff."

"Oh, well that's just lovely," Tonks said in a cheerfully fake tone.

The two of them lied in bed for a while, Remus occasionally reading aloud to Tonks. When Remus noticed that Tonks' comments were getting quieter and quieter, he looked over to see her struggling to stay awake.

Quietly, Remus told her, "I have some Order work to do, so I think I will go do that now and let you rest."

"You can't do it up here?" Tonks asked hopefully.

"No, not really. It has to do with the horcruxes and I really need to meet with Harry to go through a lot of very boring information. We're both going to put our heads together and see if we can't come up with any new clues as to their locations."

"You could always bring Harry up here."

"Tonks, we would only keep you awake."

"Oh…okay."

"I'm sorry. Now, sleep well, Love, and sweet dreams," Remus kissed Tonks before getting up to leave. "If you need anything, come and find me, alright? And if it's an emergency, just scream loudly and I'll come for you immediately."

"Ok, I will."

"Good night, Love."

"Night."

Remus walked out of the door and closed the door silently behind him. Tonks lay down and quickly fell asleep.

----------------------

When Tonks woke up, the first thing that she noticed was that Remus had not yet come back, and apparently, Wear had wondered off. It was just past noon, according to the clock on the bedside table, and Tonks found herself very hungry. Remembering that Molly was going to fix her some soup, Tonks headed off downstairs, not bothering to change her clothes. To cover up the pajamas, Tonks grabbed the first cloak that she found, another item from Remus' wardrobe.

Just to be sure that her hair looked fine, Tonks glanced in the mirror on her way out of the room. What she saw shocked her.

_Merlin, it's me! _Tonks thought, _It's actually _me. _I've changed back._

Tonks was now in her natural form: hair, eyes, height, weight, and yes, even her face. She now looked closer to her age, although it wasn't much of a difference, mainly just the few early signs of aging that are common for anyone her age. Her hair was mousy-brown and cut just below her shoulder; it's natural state when not being violently pink. She was slightly shorter, and weighed slightly more, but it wasn't enough to be noticed by anyone but herself.

After Tonks had some time to get over the initial shock of being in her natural form without having done anything, she realized that it was probably just her powers slowly disappearing due to the pregnancy. She soon remembered her hunger when her stomach growled, and then left the room in search of food.

Tonks made her way slowly down the hallways. She felt weaker than normal, but that was to be expected. She hadn't eaten anything recently, and what she had eaten had only come up.

When she reached the first staircase needed to get downstairs, Tonks stopped in her tracks. Then she grabbed hold of the rail and slowly made her way down the stairs. She was very proud of herself. She made it all the way down to the bottom floor without falling, or even coming close to tripping.

There didn't seem to be anyone at the house. It was way too quiet in the hallways for there to be that many teenagers staying under one roof. The mystery was solved, however, when Tonks reached the kitchen door and heard a full blast of noise. It was lunch time.

She walked into the kitchen to see everyone gathered around the table, shoving food greedily into their mouths. Tonks stood unnoticed in the doorway until Charlie saw her.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty," he said, getting up to drag her over to the table. He sat her down in the seat next to his. "We were wondering when you would get up."

Now the whole room noticed Tonks, and simultaneously, the whole room began asking her questions. Tonks could only make out half of them:

"Are you feeling better?"

"How about the baby?"

"Sleep well?"

"Hungry?"

"Can I get you something?"

"What's up with your hair?"

"How did it go with the healer?"

"Uh…" Tonks looked around, baffled, "I—uh…"

Molly came to the rescue, "Oh, stop pestering her, you lot. Here, dear, let me get you some of that soup."

From somewhere behind her, Tonks heard Remus say, "Charlie, do you think I could have that seat?"

"Oh yeah, of course!" Charlie stood up immediately, sliding his food over to another place at the table.

"Thank you," Remus set his own plate, and himself, at the spot where Charlie had just been.

"No problem, Remus."

"Here you go, dear," Molly placed a bowl of soup in front of Tonks. "What would you like to drink?"

"Oh, water's fine," Tonks answered, still groggily taking in her bustling surroundings.

Within only a moment, Molly had a glass of water sitting in front of Tonks, and then she went off to eat her own meal at another spot of the large table.

Now that everything seemed to have returned to normal, the table burst out in random conversations once more, leaving Remus and Tonks free to talk between themselves unnoticed.

"Did you sleep well?" Remus asked.

"Yes, fine, thank you."

"Good. Now, Molly ordered me to tell you to eat up."

"Alright, alright, I will."

Picking at the cloak Tonks was now wearing, Remus said, "Hey, this is mine, too!"

"It was the first one I found."

"Uh huh, sure. I think you're just trying to steal all of my clothes.

"No I'm not!"

"Tonks, are you wearing any article of clothing that belongs to you? Knickers don't count."

"Oh, well in that case…no."

"My point exactly."

"What?" Charlie said from across the table, "I heard the word knickers."

"Nothing, Charlie," Tonks answered. "Does your brain just pick up on that word and automatically you become interested?"

"That and a few others."

"You're pathetic. No wonder you're single."

"Yes, but I'm quite happy that way."

"Without a girlfriend?"

"Yep," Charlie answered matter-of-factly. "Relationships are overrated. It's too much work. It's much easier being single."

Everyone at the table began laughing. Apparently, they had all quieted to hear the conversation ranging from different ends of the table. Mrs. Weasley soon began pestering Charlie about how he should find a nice girl and get married, and how he would make a wonderful husband for some lovely lady. Tonks and Remus decided that this was a good time to go back to their own conversation.

"So, did you do it on purpose, or did it just happen?" Remus asked Tonks.

"Huh?"

He reached over and tugged lightly on her long, brown hair.

"Oh, no, it was just like that when I woke up."

"Ah, I see."

"Did you just now notice?" Tonks felt rather disappointed that nobody, mainly Remus, had actually noticed anything.

"You change how you look everyday. You shouldn't be too surprised that nobody thinks it odd that you've changed once again."

"But did you notice?"

"Yes, Tonks. I noticed immediately. I always do."

"Oh really? Then what has changed about me?"

"Well, for one, your hair. And you're shorter."

"I am not short!" Tonks protested. She hated being short.

"I didn't say that, I just said that you were _shorter_. There is a difference.

"Not much of one," Tonks muttered.

"You also look more like your own age."

"I don't look old, either!"

"I never said that! This isn't fair. You ask me what changed about you, I tell you, and then I get yelled at."

"I'm not yelling! I am loudly expressing my feelings about what you are saying. There is a difference."

"Not much of one."

Tonks stuck her tongue out at Remus, rolling her eyes as she did so.

"And you're right," Remus added, "You don't look old at all. Especially when you do that."

"Are you saying that I'm acting childish?"

"That's not what I said."

"But that's what you meant."

"Would you like some more soup?" Remus changed the topic.

Charlie decided to intervene at that moment, "Good one, Remus. Now you just keep avoiding that question, and you should be good. But if for some reason you have to answer, just lie."

"Charlie," Bill interrupted, "are you trying to give Remus relationship advice?"

"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"  
"Don't listen to anything he tells you, Remus. There's a reason why he's single, you know."

"Hey," Charlie argued, "I resent that!"

Everyone at the table turned to stare at him.

"Ok, ok," he conceded, "so I'm not the brightest when it comes to relationships. But I have learned one thing: if the truth will get you in trouble, lie."

"Wow," Tonks said, "that's really deep, Charlie."

"Thank you, I try."

Bill asked, "When did you learn that one, Charlie? When you were dating your last girlfriend? Now, when was that…sixth year or seventh?"

"Oh ha-ha, very funny."

"Oh, I think I remember now. It was my seventh year, your fifth. I remember who it was, too."

"You know what, Remus," Tonks suddenly interrupted loudly, "I think I would like some more soup."

The older Weasley brothers continued arguing, however.

"It was my ex-girlfriend," Bill explained, still mad apparently.

"Oh, Merlin, Bill," Charlie continued. "Are you ever going to get over that?"

"It had only been two weeks since we broke up!"

"Oh Merlin," Tonks mumbled to herself, "please make him stop."

Concerned, Remus asked, "Are you okay, Tonks?"

"Oh, she's just embarrassed," Bill answered for her.

"Why?"

"Because she was the girl."

At this, most of the table seemed very surprised. Everyone except those involved, and Dylan, of course, who was rather enjoying the furious thoughts currently flying around the table.

"What?" Fleur shouted at Bill. "You dated her?"

"Yes, but I—"

"And you deed not tell me?"

"No, but I didn't think—"

"You deed not theenk that it mattered to me? That we have been staying in ze same house as your ex-girlfriend? And you deed not tell me!"

Fleur promptly ran out of the kitchen, muttering violently in French.

"Ooooh," Charlie said, amused, "You're in trouble now!"

"Oh sod off, Charlie," Bill yelled at his little brother.

"Bill Weasley!" Molly shouted.

"But Mum," he argued, knowing exactly what she wanted of him, "I need to go—"

"No, you need to apologize to your brother, right now!"

Charlie looked very pleased with himself, "Yes, Bill. You need to say you're sorry. You hurt my very delicate feelings," Charlie began to fake-cry.

"Charlie!" Bill shouted angrily.

"Bill!" Molly shouted back.

With a groan, Bill finally said, "Yes, Mother. Charlie, I am sorry for what I said to you. It was rude of me."

"Apology accepted!"

"Now may I go see if I can't calm down my fiancée?"

"Yes, Bill," Molly told him, "you may go."

Bill immediately ran out of the kitchen in pursuit of his beloved Fleur. And now, it was Tonks' turn.

Remus stood up from his seat next to Tonks, helped her up, and then excused them both from the table. He led her upstairs to their room. Tonks thought it very polite of him to wait to argue in private.

Once they were safe in their room, Tonks asked quietly, "You're not mad, are you?"

"No," Remus looked confused, "why do you think I'm mad?"

"Because of what happened downstairs. Because I dated them and didn't tell you. Becau—"

"Tonks, I don't care who you dated before me."

"But they're staying here and—"

"I don't care, Tonks."

"But, if you're not mad, why did you bring me up here?"

"I thought that was quite obvious. With all of that yelling and fighting, I didn't think it would calm down anytime soon, so I thought I would get you out of there. I didn't want you to get stressed or worked up. You already looked like you were. It's not good for the baby, remember?"

"Yeah, but…so you don't care…at all?"

"Well, I can't honestly say that I'm jumping for joy, but I'm definitely not mad. We all have a past.

"But my past is currently staying in the same house as us."

"Well, as long as you don't sneak off during the night to go be with them—" Tonks shook her head rapidly, "—then I am fine with it."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, I am sure. I trust you, Tonks. I know that you love me and would never cheat on me. I trust them, too. Bill is—hopefully—still engaged to Fleur and he loves her greatly. He would never do anything, either. And Charlie, well…okay, so I might not trust him as much."

Tonks smiled, "I'm still sorry that I didn't tell you."

"No worries. Really, I'm not that surprised that you had a boyfriend or two before me, although I must say that I was fairly shocked to hear that you've been with two of the Weasley brothers."

"Uh…" Tonks looked around the room innocently, avoiding Remus' eyes.

"You were with more of them?"

"Well, it matters how you count it. I've only _dated_ Bill and Charlie. But…I've made out with five of them."

"You're joking, right?" Remus was actually laughing. That had to be a good sign.

"Um…no. There was Bill and Charlie, both of which I dated. Then Percy during some spin-the-bottle game that we had at a end-of-year party once. Then the twins after someone dared me to make out with all of the Weasley brothers. I never did get Ron, but then again, he never went to school with me."

"Wow, I had no idea."

"Yeah…I was a crazy teenager."

"You know, I have no problems believing that."

They remained silent for a few moments, trying to hear if there was still arguing.

Finally, Remus asked, "I wonder if she's still yelling at him?"

"I hope not. The poor bloke can't even understand what she's yelling about."

-------------

Later that day, at dinner, it seemed as if Fleur had forgiven Bill, however, she kept glaring at Tonks whenever she thought that nobody was looking. Charlie found the whole thing absolutely hilarious.

After everyone had finished eating, they remained sitting around the table, carrying on various conversations.

"Well, I better get going," Charlie said as he stood up from the table. It was Charlie's last night there for a while. He needed to get back to work. Bill and Fleur, however, would be staying with the whole Weasley clan until their wedding, which was coming up in the near future.

"Awww," Ginny whined, hating to see her favorite brother leave, "Do you have to go?"

"Yep. Sorry, Squirt. I've got work. If I don't show up eventually, I think they might fire me."

"Aww, alright."

"Oh, you know what? I almost forgot…" Charlie searched through the various pockets in his robes, finally pulling out a small, black box.

"What is it?" Ginny asked curiously.

"It's from Bill and me, for you. We thought you could use something exceptionally nice to wear to the wedding."

Charlie handed her the box. Ginny opened it, and immediately gasped.

"Oh, thank you!" Ginny threw her arms around Charlie and he spun her around a couple of times before setting her back down.

Molly asked, "Let me see, dear."

Ginny handed the box to her mother and ran over to thank Bill.

"Oh, boys, you—" Molly began.

Bill cut her off, "Now, Mum, don't start on us about spending too much on our baby sister. We're big boys now, and we can do what we want with our money."

"I wasn't going to say that, although it did cross my mind. I was going to say that you have excellent taste."

"I wanna see!" Tonks jumped up to see what Ginny had gotten, followed closely by Hermione. Fleur had probably already seen it, and Dylan always knew about everything. "Oooh, that's pretty."

It was a simple, golden necklace, with a heart shaped ruby on it. A pair of matching earrings completed the set.

"Do you like it, Gin?" Bill asked.

"I love it. Thank you."

"Hey!" Ron protested, "Where is my present?"

"Yeah," the twins shouted simultaneously, "Where are our presents?"

"Oh right, them," Charlie said, purposefully rude. "We didn't get you anything. Just Ginny."

"Why does she always get presents?" Ron argued.

"Oh, I'm sorry guys," Bill said, "Did you want some jewelry, too?"

"NO!" All three remaining Weasley brothers shouted.

"But you could have at least gotten us something," Fred protested.

"You two have your own money."

"Oh yeah…we do, don't we?" Fred realized.

"Well that sucks," said George.

"Ok, fine," Ron continued arguing, "What about me?"

"Well, we're sorry, Ron," Charlie answered, "We just like Ginny more."

"No, we don't," Bill tried to amend, "we just decided that Ginny needed something nice for the wedding, so we got her something. That doesn't mean that we have to get you something, too."

"Yeah," Charlie added, "we're not Mum and Dad. We don't have to pretend that we don't have a favorite. We do, and it's Ginny!"

Bill rolled his eyes at his brother. Charlie just didn't know how to keep everyone happy.

"Boys," Molly scolded, "be nice to your little brother. And Ron, it is their money, so they don't have to buy you a gift if they don't want to. However, I will highly suggest that they make it up to you, and the twins, somehow." It wasn't a suggestion. It was an order.

"Yes, Mum," Bill and Charlie agreed in unison, neither looking very happy. Ron and the twins, however, looked ecstatic.

"You'd better get going, Charlie," Molly told her second-oldest son, "You wouldn't want to be late."

"Yes, Mum," And with that, Charlie began to say his good-byes, individually, to each person at the table. Normally, he would have just said a general farewell, but his mother was watching him with a close eye and he thought he should probably be polite.

After Charlie had made his rounds, he said, "Now, let's see…I think that's everyone."

Ginny cleared her throat audibly.

"Oh yeah," Charlie hadn't actually forgotten her, and everybody knew it. "See you soon, Squirt, okay?" he picked her up for one last hug, then put her down. "And if any of them," Charlie pointed to the guys, "step out of line, you just let me know and I'll have a word with them. You behave, too, alright?"

"I will. And thank you again for my gift, I love it."

"You're very welcome," Charlie fondly kissed her on the cheek. "Alright, now did I get everyone?"

"Hey," one of the twins protested, "I don't believe you personally said goodbye to either of us." They were trying to get on his nerves.

"Oh no, you're right, I didn't."

Charlie pulled them both into a bone-crushing hug and, while still holding on tightly to the squirming twins, gave them each a big kiss on the cheek. They screamed as if they were dying, but they wouldn't dare to make a move against their brother while their mother was in the room.

Satisfied that he had embarrassed the twins enough for one day, Charlie said, "Ron, Harry, I don't believe I addressed you two personally, either. Do you need a hug?"

By the look on Charlie's face, he obviously wasn't proposing it to annoy yet another brother, but rather, to give Harry a piece of his mind. Apparently, Charlie had found out about Harry and Ginny. And Charlie's question hadn't been much of a question, either, because he had soon pulled both Harry and Ron into another torturing hug. He kissed Ron on the cheek and whispered what was most likely a death threat to Harry.

Charlie put a large hand on Harry's shoulder, "Now, you two behave." He was smiling at them, but giving Harry a death glare at the same time. Harry looked as if he would fall over any second from the pressure that Charlie was purposefully putting on his shoulder.

"Well," Charlie said, "I'm going to be late if I don't leave now, so goodbye, everyone." He gave his mother one last hug and kiss before letting Ginny walk him to the front door.

"Well," Molly said, "all of you get out so I can clean up."

"I can help," Remus offered.

"Oh, well thank you."

Remus turned to Tonks, "Go sit in the living room and relax a bit, I'll be in soon."

"Alright."

Tonks made her way to the living room to find that almost the entire house was attempting to ward off boredom there. Arthur was reading the paper while sitting in a chair and Hermione was in another chair reading a book that most likely held no interest to anyone but her. Ginny was still outside on the porch, talking to Charlie and attempting to convince him that Harry was a good guy and that she was plenty old enough to date. Dylan and Ron were playing wizard's chess on the floor, while Harry and the twins offered advice to Ron who, surprisingly, was already losing terribly.

Tonks sat down on the floor to watch the game, as well.

"This isn't fair!" Ron burst out. "How is she beating me? Nobody beats me at chess! And I'm the one who taught her to play, it's not right, you shouldn't beat your teachers at their own game!"

"I think it's because she can read minds," Harry offered. "She knows your next move before you even make it. She beat me at least five times this morning."

Ron rolled his eyes.

"Oh," Tonks told Harry, "So I guess you didn't get much work done today?"

"What work?"

"Harry," Ginny said rather urgently from the doorway, "Can I see you for a moment?"

"Huh?"

"Now!"

"Oooh," Ron said, "what did you do, mate?"

"That's just it," Harry looked confused, "I can't think of anything that I've done."

Harry numbly made his way over to Ginny and she pulled him into a room around the corner. They came back a moment later, Harry's arm around Ginny's shoulders as he nodded his head to something she was saying.

"So," Ron asked curiously, "What did you do?"

"Nothing. It was a misunderstanding, that's all."

"About what?"  
Ginny saved Harry, "Nothing, Ronnie!" and then she smiled oddly at Tonks.

_Wow,_ Tonks thought, _they sure are acting weird today._

Harry and Ginny both sat down on the floor around the chessboard. Randomly, Dylan burst out laughing.

"Dylan?" Ginny asked.

"I won't say a word."

_This is really, really weird,_ Tonks thought.

Remus came out of the kitchen, saying, "I've been told to announce that there's some chocolate cake waiting in the kitchen for anyone who wants any."

All of the teens shot up and ran towards the kitchen door, almost trampling Tonks in the process. Remus hurried over to Tonks to make sure that she was all right, helping her to her feet.

Arthur offered, "I will talk to them about that."

"Thank you," Remus said, relieved, "I would appreciate it."

Hermione was the only teen not currently stuffing her face in the kitchen. As she carefully closed her book, she asked, "Should I go tell Bill and Fleur that there's dessert?"

"No, that's alright, Hermione," Arthur answered. "I don't think they want to be disturbed at the moment."

Both Arthur and Hermione made their way into the kitchen for chocolate, as well.

"Do you want some cake?" Remus asked Tonks, now that they were the only ones left in the room.

"No, not really," Tonks noticed that Remus looked disappointed. "But I do rather like Bill and Fleur's idea."

Tonks suggestively kissed Remus, wrapping her arms around his neck. Remus' eyes lit up and, chocolate cake completely forgotten, he kissed her back. Suddenly, he pulled away and began to walk towards the stairs, pulling her with him.

"What?" Tonks asked, confused.

"Well, not here. They'll be out soon," Remus motioned towards the kitchen door.

So Remus continued to pull Tonks up the stairs, and they retired to their room for the night.


	22. Oh My!

Butter, bubbles, and all that wonderful stuff! Anyways, now that we have your attention and have most likely confused you beyond belief, we bring to you another chapter. We're very sorry about the delay, but I, Taela, have been busy with my orchestra trip (Which was really fun, by the way), and Jewel had her HOSA competition (Congratulate her on getting 1st place! She's going to nationals now!). So we've been very busy and we apologize, but you've got to take what life gives you and run with it. We really are trying to get these chapters out sooner. So, here's this one, and it's definitely a good one. We really like it, at least. It's been planned for quite some time now, and we're very excited to see the reaction it brings from our readers. So we hope you enjoy this chapter, and please, _please_ let us know what you think about it.

Disclaimer: Uhm…Really, we're just running out of ideas here. Let's see…these characters aren't ours and we aren't JKR. Anyway, we're too much of hufflepuffs to steal from anyone, let alone the legendary JK Rowling.

**Ch. 22 – Oh My!**

Tonks woke up early that morning to find that Remus had already dressed and left the room. Still tired, Tonks flopped back down onto the bed and closed her eyes in an attempt to get a few more minutes of sleep. She heard Remus return to the room and sit down on the bed. The all-too-familiar scent of chocolate hung around him.

Eyes still closed, Tonks mumbled, "You're pathetic."

"What? I like chocolate. It's my one true weakness. You want a bite?"

"Yes."

"Wake up first."

"Meanie," Tonks muttered, putting a hand over her eyes to block out the sunlight streaming in through the window.

"Wake up," Remus persisted.

"Fine," Tonks sat up, wrapping her blanket around herself as she did so. "Cake!" She shouted, noticing the plate Remus held with a large slice of purely chocolate cake.

"Here," Remus passed the plate to Tonks. "Oh, I forgot to tell you something last night. I seem to have gotten a little, well…distracted."

"Heheh…I'm a distraction."

"Yes, and a very good one, too. Anyway, I'm going out today. Molly asked me last night if I would mind going with Arthur to help pick up a few things she forgot the other day. Most likely, I'll be gone a while. Maybe even all day."

"Awwww…Oh, I know! I'll come with you."

"No!" Remus answered quickly. "I mean, no, you can't. We'll be walking all day, carrying heavy things. You should just stay here. Besides, I believe Molly has been wanting to spend some one-on-one time with you.."

"Oh…alright," Tonks sounded very depressed.

"Don't be like that, Tonks. I'll see you tonight, alright, Love?"

"Yeah, okay. When are you leaving?"

"Soon."

"Oh."

"Why?"

"I thought, well, you know…we might have time to …"

Remus finally caught on, "Oh, no, I'm sorry, Tonks. I have to go soon, but could I get a rain check on that?"

"Tonight?"

"Yes, tonight. Now come on, it's time for breakfast."

"Then what's this?" Tonks motioned towards the slice of cake that they were both eating.

"I don't know, but it's not breakfast. How about we—"

"Don't tell Molly? Yeah, good idea."

"Come on, Tonks, get dressed."

"Oh darn, I thought I would just go in my sheet."

"Oh ha-ha. No."

Tonks got dressed and the couple made their way to the kitchen, which had been cleared of all traces of the smell of meat. They ate a quick breakfast, surrounded by the Weasley clan and the other boarders at the house.

When Remus got up to leave with Arthur, all of the other boys got up as well. They claimed that they wanted to go shopping, too. In Tonks' opinion, something was very wrong when a group of guys wanted to go shopping. However, she supposed that miracles could happen every once and a while.

As the guys left, all of the girls stayed in the kitchen, helping Molly to clean up the breakfast mess.

"Hey, Molly?" Tonks asked on a sudden whim.

"Yes, dear?"

"What was it like for you when you were pregnant?"

Ginny interrupted, "Which time?"

Laughter could be heard throughout the room.

"None of them were that bad," Molly answered Tonks. "Bill's was the hardest, but then again, the first always is."

"What about morning sickness and mood swings?" Tonks asked. "What did you do?"

That was all the instigating that Molly needed to go off for an hour and a half, giving Tonks every bit of advice that she could think of. All of the girls listened in. As she counseled Tonks, Molly kept hinting towards Fleur that she would love to have a grandchild, of course, after the proper amount of time being married.

After yet another hint towards Fleur, Tonks asked, "Molly, what do you want my baby to call you?"

"Well…"

"Because, well, I was thinking, if you don't mind, that is…I was thinking that the baby could call you grandma."

"Oh, Tonks!" Molly jumped up to give Tonks a huge hug. "I would love that!"

"Really?"

"Of course!"

"Oooh," Ginny added, "That means I'm its aunt, right?"

"Yes, Ginny," Tonks answered, "You can be the baby's aunt. Why, all of you can. Remus doesn't exactly have much of a family, and the only family that I have who aren't Death Eaters are my parents. And I haven't exactly been on speaking terms with them since we had that huge fight a while back. Something about my job being too dangerous, the Order being too dangerous, Remus being too dangerous, my life being too dangerous…well, you get the point."

"You'll always have a family with us, Tonks," Molly said, patting Tonks on the shoulder. "Both you and Remus."

"Thank you, Molly.

"Of course! Now, do you plan on finding out the gender of your baby?"

"No!" Tonks answered quickly, "I don't want to know."

"Oh, come on," Ginny persuaded.

"No!"

"Please?"

"No! I don't want to—"

Dylan suddenly blurted out, "I know."

"What?" Tonks and Ginny said simultaneously.

"I know," Dylan answered simply.

"You know?" Tonks and Ginny shouted, once again simultaneously.

"Yeah, I had a vision yesterday. It was really funny…kind of weird, too."

"Can—," Ginny began.

"Nope," Dylan cut her off. "I'll only tell Tonks, and that's only if she wants to know."

"Aww, come on, Dylan."

"Nope."

"A hint?"

"Ummm……No."

"Awww, come on. Tonks, don't you want to know?"

"No," Tonks answered stubbornly, "I don't want to know, alright?"

"You're no fun," Ginny mumbled.

"So, Tonks," Molly interrupted in an attempt to divert the conversation before it could escalate into an argument that everyone would later regret, "When are we going to go shopping?"

"Oh, I don't know," Tonks answered, "Whenever I need new clothes and stuff for the baby, I guess."

"Yes, but we'll need to get you new clothes before you start showing."

"When will I start showing?"

"It depends. Each woman is different, just like each woman has different cravings and different levels of mood swings during pregnancy."

"Oh Merlin, how bad do you think my mood swings will get?"

"I don't know, dear, but I'm sure they won't be too bad. Have you had any cravings yet?"

"No."

"Well, when you do, let me know so we can stock up for you."

"Oh, um, okay."

That's what the girls did for most of the day. They worked around the house, tidying up the rooms that hadn't been used in a while, occasionally slipping into a conversation about either Fleur's wedding or how Molly had managed to, more or less, succesfully raise seven children.

Hermione managed to slip away at some point, most likely to find a nice chair to curl up and read her newest book in. Ginny and Dylan soon grew bored, too, and they roamed off in search of something more entertaining than the monotonous conversation.

Tonks had a good time, discussing things with Molly. She told her the baby names she and Remus had been considering, whether she wanted a boy or a girl, where she and Remus were in their relationship…over all, it was a day well-spent with some much-needed girl-talk.

Around dinner time, all of the girls had regrouped and were sitting around in the living room, laughing about some story or another, when the boys returned home. They were welcomed back by their women, all except for the twins, who just stood there looking out of place, something they didn't do too often. Feeling sorry for them, Dylan suddenly kissed both of them on the cheek, earning herself identical mischievous smiles from the duo.

After Remus and Tonks had greeted each other, Remus asked Tonks, "How was your day, love?"

"The best."

"Well that's good to hear."

"Yeah, I've been having such a wonderful day! How was yours?"

"Oh, it was fine. We got everything done that we needed to do.

"That's good. Where are the bags?"

"Huh?" Remus was caught off guard for a second.

"The bags. I was going to help put the things away."

"Oh, no, you can't. They're, uh…they're too heavy for you."

"Oh, okay."

Molly went into the kitchen to finish off the dinner that she had started earlier, and within minutes, she came back into the living room to call the household to eat.

The boys finished their dinner abnormally fast, which turned out to be quite a breakneck speed, and they all darted off to some unknown part of the house. Tonks classified their strange departure as an attempt to get out of clearing the dishes from the table.

Once the girls had finished their meal, and Molly had cleared the table single-handedly, she said, "Girls, I have a great idea. Why don't we get a head start on shopping for Tonks?"

"Now?" Tonks asked, slightly confused. "But isn't it getting kind of late?"

"You're not tired, are you?"

"No…"

"Well then, let's go!"

The other girls readily agreed.

"Oh, alright, then," Tonks submitted. "Just let me find Remus first and tell him."

"No, no, dear," Molly told her, "That won't be necessary. We won't be gone for long. I'll leave a note for him."

"But—"

"Come, dear," Molly ushered Tonks towards the fireplace, and Ginny handed Tonks her cloak.

"But, I really think—"

"Really, Tonks, it's quite all right. I cleared it with Remus this morning. I thought it would be a nice surprise for you if we went shopping for a bit. Now, Fleur, dear, why don't you go first?"

Fleur promptly grabbed a handful of floo powder and went into the flames, exclaiming, "Diagon Alley," as she did so.

Ginny, Dylan, and Hermione went before Molly persuaded Tonks to go next. Then Molly herself followed up the group.

Tonks soon forgot her worry as the group browsed through a few different stores. They made sure to stick together and stay in the main section of the alley for added protection. All of the girls chipped in to buy Tonks some maternity clothes and they all spent quite a while looking at the many adorable things made for babies. It took all of Tonks' strength not to buy out all of the baby clothes they had, but seeing as she didn't want to know whether it was a boy or girl, the clothes would have to wait.

It was late when Molly finally suggested that they finish up their shopping another day and the group headed back to the Leaky Cauldron. However, instead of going to the fireplace, Molly walked straight through to the other side and summoned the Knight Bus.

"The knight bus?" Tonks said, shocked. "That bloody bus has annoyed me to no end and I refuse to lay eyes on it ever again! I absolutely refuse to. Why can't we just floo back?"

Molly answered, "We wouldn't want to pop in unexpected and surprise them, now would we?"

"But we do it all the time! Besides, flooing is cheaper."

"Well, I think a ride on the Knight Bus will do us all some good."

Tonks could only stare blankly at Molly. The other girls seemed to accept the reasoning, however it made no sense to Tonks.

"Come on," Molly ushered everyone onto the bus in a cheerful manner.

"No! I will not let that damn bus take another minute of my life!" Tonks protested.

"Come on, dear, it's too late to change our minds now. Fleur's already paying our fare."

Glaring at the purple contraption that called itself a vehicle, Tonks crossed her arms stubbornly, arguing, "I have vowed never to ride on that thing again, and I never will."

"Tonks," Molly said sternly. The manner of her voice could melt even the most stubborn of wills. Tonks supposed it came from dealing with such a large family of stubborn, fiery teenagers.

"But—"

"No, Tonks. You are getting on the bus."

"But—"

"Do you want me to tell Remus that the reason we had to leave you behind by yourself was because you were being immaturely stubborn?"

Angered at being called immature, Tonks now glared at Molly, saying, "I am _not_ being immature, and Remus wouldn't be mad at _me _if I was left behind, he'd be mad at you all."

"Tonks, get on the bus."

"But—"

Molly simply stared at Tonks patiently.

With a disgusted sigh, Tonks realized that it was no use arguing with Molly. She almost always won. So Tonks grudgingly made her way onto the bus. It was a short trip back to headquarters, seeing as it was located fairly close to Diagon Alley, but Tonks still complained the entire time. She didn't stop until she had set foot back on the wonderful concrete that was the street in front of number twelve, Grimmauld Place.

The group waited until the bus had disappeared and, making sure that nobody was in sight, they entered the former Black house with Tonks at the lead.

Forgetting about the others that were lingering behind, Tonks entered the house. Her first thought was that something was definitely wrong. It was pitch black within the house. Not a light was on; not a sound could be heard. Just as she began to panic, a path of floating candles lit up, one at a time, leading from the entry way towards the living room which remained in darkness.

Tonks slowly followed the candles as they lit up before her. Confused, she noticed that a dusting of flower petals lay on the floor along the path, as well. When she got to the entrance of the living room, the path of candles stopped, leaving the room in complete darkness. Tonks glanced behind her to see the rest of the girls standing in the entry way, whispering to each other.

Not quite knowing what to expect, Tonks stepped into the living room. Instantly, the center of the room lit up with candlelight, and what she saw took her breath away. The furniture had been cleared out, leaving room for the spectacle that presented itself before her. Floating candles lined the room while magical images of colorful butterflies drifted lazily near the ceiling. Vases of roses were scattered across the room, along with various petals scattered across the floor. That alone would have stunned Tonks quite effectively, however there was one thing and one thing alone that seemed to captivate her attention. In the center of the candle-lit room stood Remus, looking as if the very flames of the candles lit him from within, a mixture of excitement and devotion spread across his features.

Seeing him standing there in the midst of such extravagance, staring at her with deep affection radiating from his eyes, Tonks suddenly knew what was happening. She knew why everyone had been acting so weird lately. She knew.

Smiling broadly at Tonks, Remus said, "I need to ask you something."

All Tonks could say was, "Oh my."


	23. Proposals

Drumroll, please. I bring to you one of _the_ best chapters so far. And, we bring you the conclusion to the last chapter's cliffie. After so long of a wait. Oh how I love cliffies! And we're terribly, terribly sorry about the delay. Did I say 'we'? I meant 'I'. I, Taela, take all blame for the absolutely horrific delay in updating time. I've been busy with standardized tests all over the place and, well, I've just been plain lazy, as well. So please forgive me, and expect more chapters due to the awesomeness that is Summer Break.

Disclaimer: We greatly appreciate the hard work that JK Rowling has put into the wonderful world of Harry Potter. We wouldn't dream of stealing it from her. Well, so maybe we do dream of it…but we're too good of people to do that. And, she's too awesome of a person. We could never imitate her. We're merely expanding upon the universe…in our own way.

**Last Chapter:**

Seeing Remus standing there, staring at her, with deep affection radiating from his eyes, Tonks suddenly knew what was happening. She knew why everyone had been acting so weird lately. She knew.

Smiling broadly at Tonks, Remus said, "I need to ask you something."

All Tonks could say was, "Oh my."

**Chapter 23 – Proposals**

Tonks could only stare at Remus, her heart racing, her eyes wide. He walked over to her, took her left hand in his, and pulled her into the center of the candlelight. He knew that somewhere within the shadows at the edges of the room stood the rest of the household, however at this moment in time, the only person he cared about was Tonks.

Still holding onto her left hand with both of his, he looked her in the eye and said with full meaning, "Before I met you, Tonks, my life was meaningless, depressing, and, well…very lonely. Then you came into it and changed everything with your bright pink hair, lively spirit, and the way that you can put a positive spin on just about every bad situation. You even gave my situation a positive spin: I get to be with you…forever, if you'll allow me to."

From somewhere behind Tonks, the girls could be heard 'oohing' and 'aahing' as well as sobbing with glee.

"Nymphadora Tonks," Remus got down on one knee, still holding Tonks' hand, and asked, "Will you marry me?"

Tonks merely stood there, her mouth slightly open, as she stared at Remus, her eyes just as big as could be. She didn't speak.

"Tonks?" Remus asked uncertainly when he began to get a little worried.

"Yes," Tonks said in a quiet voice.

Remus paused, thinking, _Was that a yes to me saying her name, or a yes to the proposal?_

"Yes." Tonks said with more of her usual confidence as a smile slowly spread across her face, "Of course I will marry you, Remus Lupin."

The room broke out into cheering as Remus stood up and enthusiastically picked Tonks off her feet, spinning her around joyously. Once he had put her down, the unlikely pair grinned giddily at each other. Both were so ecstatic that they seemed to be stuck in a surreal world in which only they existed.

Growing impatient, Dylan said from the shadows, "Oh just kiss already."

Amused, they did just that.

For a moment, they seemed frozen in time, each trying to enjoy this wonderful moment before it disappeared. Then they were pulled back to reality as the twins said in unison, "Get a room!"

The newly engaged couple ended their kiss, however they refused to let go of each other. Remus was smiling as if nothing could possibly go wrong for the rest of his life; as if every single one of his dreams had suddenly come true; for, truly, they had. Tonks couldn't stop the tears from flowing down her face, running across her perfect facial features and that brilliant smile. She stood with her arms locked around Remus' neck, her eyes locked on Remus' as they silently shared their happiness.

Faintly, they could hear Molly say, "I think we'll just go down to the kitchen," and the following protests of the rest of the household as she forced them all down the stairs.

Partially oblivious to the moving people around them, Remus and Tonks remained standing in the center of the candlelight. A lone butterfly flew down from its perch on the ceiling and rested briefly on Tonks' shoulder as they stood in a peaceful silence.

Remus gently wiped the tears off of Tonks' face and broke the silence, asking, "Are you alright, love?"

"Yes, I'm just really, really happy. And surprised. How long have you been planning this?"

"Not too long," Remus kissed her again.

When they parted, Tonks whispered, "I love you."

Just as quiet, Remus replied with full sincerity, "I love you, too." At this particular moment in time, Remus could not have been happier if they had just announced Voldemort's very permanent and _very_ painful death.

"Oh!" Remus suddenly began to search his pockets, "You need this."

"Remus," Tonks said, slightly scolding, slightly hopeful.

"No, Tonks. You deserve a ring."

"But you can't afford one. Besides, I don't really need one."

"Yes, I can, and yes, you definitely do. Now, I don't want to hear another word about it, alright?"

"But—" Tonks protested.

"Shh. Trust me on this." Remus pulled out a small black box from a pocket and handed it to her.

Quickly giving up the argument, Tonks took a moment to take in the sight of this closed box that meant so much to her at the moment. Slowly, as if wanting to remember every detail of this particular moment, she opened the box and gasped.

"Oh, Remus," She said, her eyes beginning to water once again, "It's beautiful."

"Just like you."

Remus took the ring out of the box for Tonks, since she seemed incapable of doing anything but stare. The ring had a simple beauty about it. The band was white gold (not silver), with a princess-cut pink diamond in the center, surrounded by two smaller, white diamonds on either side. It sparkled beautifully in the candlelight as Remus placed the perfectly fitting ring on Tonks' left ring finger.

"But how—" Tonks began.

"I'll tell you later."

"Okay."

"Now, I believe our presence is expected in the kitchen for the engagement party that Harry is throwing us."

"What? How did you know that I'd say yes?"

"I know you, I have Dylan on my side, and, well…I was just plain hoping."

"What if I had said no?"

"I think I would have died," Remus said simply.

Laughing, Tonks asked, "So, what's at this engagement party?"

"Well, lots of food, champagne for those who can drink, sparkling white grape juice for those who can't…Oh, and gifts," Remus knew that she'd like that last part.

"What are we waiting for?" Tonks said, jumping with glee. "Wait, why is Harry throwing it?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you later."

They walked to the kitchen, Remus' arm around his fiancée's shoulders.

_Merlin, _Remus thought, _Could I ever be happier than I am right now?_

When they walked into the kitchen, they were greeted with fireworks (magical, of course), poppers (both magical and muggle), all sorts of noisemakers, and much clapping and cheering.

They ate chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream, and everyone drank champagne, except for Tonks and Ginny, of course, who had sparkling white grape juice. The other teens were allowed to each have one glass of champagne in celebration. Ginny was quite mad that she was denied it and almost broke out in a full-out rage-filled argument (as only she is capable pulling off perfectly), however it only took a single look from Harry to silence her. He shared his champagne with her when nobody was looking.

After everyone was sufficiently stuffed full of chocolate and champagne, the girls spent a good five minutes each 'oohing' and 'aahing' at Tonks' ring. Then, of course, they opened the presents. There were quite a variety of gifts given, however a conformed front wasn't even in the forecast due to the wide range of people at the party. While Tonks privately swore never to touch Hermione's present again (a very thick book on how to have a successful marriage), Tonks thoroughly enjoyed the twins' gift: an assortment of joke items from their shop. Tonks and Remus received some gifts that were actually useful, as well, and in the end, they were left stunned by how such wonderful party could be created on such short notice.

Around midnight, the effects of the day began to show in everyone's movements. Consequently, people started slowly heading up to their rooms to turn in for the night. Eventually, the only ones remaining were the most effervescent of the group. Namely, all of the teens (excluding Hermione), and Remus and Tonks, who seemed to be so filled with excitement from the day's proceedings that they couldn't even begin to think of sleeping.

Due to the immaturity levels of those remaining, the party soon got interesting. With their parents and older brother missing, the twins shortly became drunk. Remus would have stopped them, but he didn't notice what was happening until it was too late.

It wasn't until the twins started singing in a very drunken fashion that Ginny and Dylan left. Around two o'clock in the morning, when the twins had come very close to passing out on the kitchen floor, Ron, Harry, and Remus ended up helping the extremely wasted twins to safely find their beds without waking their parents. Or the entire house, for that matter.

After that interesting adventure, Harry and Ron retired to their bedroom while Remus returned to his. As he entered the room, Remus saw Tonks sitting on the bed, holding her left hand out and fondly admiring the new ring that she had just acquired.

Tonks looked up as Remus closed the door, and she asked, "Are you going to tell Molly about the twins?"

"I don't know…maybe. It's funny: I didn't think they could possibly get any more annoying. Apparently, I was wrong."

"How'd you do it?" Tonks asked as she pulled the covers down on her side of the bed and crawled underneath them.

"Do what?" Remus replied as he got ready for bed.

"Everything. The proposal, the party, the ring…just everything."

"Well, let's see…" Remus climbed into his side of the bed, "Harry did the party."

"Why?"

"Oh, well he told me that I couldn't throw a party for myself, and since this is technically his house, he thought that he should be the one to throw it. So you see, all I bought were flowers and candles."

"And my ring!"

"Oh yes, and that."

"But how?"

"Well," Remus explained, "You see, when I worked at Hogwarts a few years back, I saved all the money I earned and invested most of it in an attempt to secure my financial status for at least a little while. I actually managed to amass quite a bit, and I haven't had to spend that much of it since then. So I had enough to buy you the perfect ring that you deserve."

Tonks didn't have a response for him, except for immense gratitude and affection, and she lacked the appropriate words to express it in. Instead, she admired her ring some more.

"Yes, so you see, I do have some money. It's not much now, but I do think it'll be enough to get us through a while, considering that we're not paying rent or anything. So don't you worry about it, I have us covered," Remus reassured her. He followed his statement by kissing her. "So," he continued, "You want to get married tomorrow?"

"What?" Tonks wasn't sure if she'd heard Mr. Predictable correctly.

"Yeah."

"No."

"Oh well, it was worth a shot. So are we having a big wedding?"

Tonks thought on it for a moment before answering. "No, I don't think so. Just family and close friends should do.

"When were you thinking?"

"I don't know…does it matter right now? We have time to think."

"Well, if you want to have it soon, we need to start planning quickly."

"Oh, well…" Tonks looked fidgety.

"Whatever you want is fine by me," Remus responded to her uncertainty.

"Well…what about next summer?"

Remus frowned slightly, thinking, _Why wait so long?_ He wanted to get married soon.

Tonks must have noticed his frown, because she quickly began to explain. "Remus, I don't want to be fat when I walk down the aisle on my wedding day."

"You're not fat!"

"No, but I will be."

"You'll never be fat."

"Yes I will be. I'll have a huge stomach, and I would just look ugly."

"You would not! Tonks, you'll never be ugly, no matter what happens to you."

"You wanna bet?"

Remus sighed and quickly changed the topic. He knew he couldn't convince her, no matter how much he spoke the truth.

Acquiescing, he said, "If you want to wait until after the baby is born, that's perfectly fine. So next summer, then?"

"Yeah…maybe on a beach!"

"That would be nice."

They fell into a silence, but not an uncomfortable one. Tonks went back to admiring her ring once more. As Remus watched her move her hand back and forth, making it sparkle in the light from the fireplace, he started to laugh.

"What?" Tonks asked defensively, hugging her hand (namely the ring) to her chest.

"Nothing. Are you tired?"

"Not too tired."

"Good."

They kissed, and when they had broke apart, Tonks said abruptly, "Lock the door."

"Right."

Remus opened his eyes to find that sunlight was streaming in from the large window, filling the room with a promising brightness. Maybe it was just him, but the light looked different than usual, somehow. It was reassuring, almost as if it signified that everything would soon be right with the world.

Remus certainly believed it to be true as he looked at Tonks sleeping peacefully in his arms, snuggled up against his side. When he felt as happy as he did now, how could the world be anything but perfect?


	24. What Are Friends For?

Just a fair warning: this chapter is by far _the_ longest chapter that we've posted yet. So we hope that you enjoy the hard work we put into it. We had fun writing this one…although I'm not sure if my fingers will ever feel the same again…

Disclaimer: The plot is ours, but other than that we only own Dylan. Everything else belongs to the lovely J.K. Rowling.

**Chapter 24 –What Are Friends For?**

Time crawled by at a speed relevant to a turtle's walk, or at least, that's how it seemed to Tonks. After the proposal, nothing interesting seemed to happen. The days went by perfectly normally (or as normal as they could be with a house full young wizards), and Tonks was getting increasingly bored with the monotony.

The only interesting thing to do was to watch Fleur as she had various panic attacks as her wedding drew closer, for it was now only eight days away. And, of course, Fleur thought that nothing was ready or that it would never be perfect, etcetera, etcetera. In short, she was a disaster.

Within the time lapse between now and Remus' proposal, Tonks visited her maternity healer, as promised. It didn't take long, and in fact, it wasn't nearly as bad as Tonks thought it would be. Not that she didn't complain about it, though. That she did quite a bit.

With that off her mind, she had absolutely nothing to do. Sure, there was a pile of paperwork stashed away somewhere that she should have been doing for work, but she ignored it. That would only make the boredom even worse. Tonks even contemplated reading some of Hermione's books…then she snapped to her senses and began yelling at thin air saying that boredom would be the death of her. She also had some Order work to do, but the only assignments she was given were in the form of paperwork, and even that was quite pathetic. It was very obvious that the others had made up the work just to give her something to do and make her feel like she was helping.

Occasionally, someone would find a lead or some Auror would stop by to talk to the Order, but Tonks was never told much about the information. Either Remus, Arthur, or Bill would take care of it, and occasionally Bill would leave the house for an afternoon or two to take care of Order-related business. All the while, Tonks was left behind to glare at the walls of whatever room she was in and mutter to herself about how even the walls were mocking her boredom.

Consequently, Tonks went through all of the many rooms in search of something to occupy her time. Finally, she stumbled upon the Black library, a huge room filled with hundreds of dusty books and a few comfy chairs that sat by a nearby window. This seemed to be Hermione's hideout when the house got too crazy, because every time Tonks came here in her boredom, Hermione was occupying one of the chairs by the window, joyfully reading through the various books.

Disgusted that she would stoop to the level of seeking a cure to boredom in a library, Tonks avoided Hermione's gaze and began to search the many shelves for something that was interesting…and not deadly. Luckily, most of the harmful books had been trashed early on when the house was being cleared out a couple years ago. Either way, Tonks was careful as she pulled out various books to look at the covers.

Much to Tonks' surprise, one of the books she pulled out actually looked somewhat interesting. It had clearly seen quite a bit of use, however it still managed to catch her eye. The cover was one giant, moving picture of the night sky, the stars twinkling in and out of sight. It was obviously an astronomy book, something that Tonks took a bit of interest in. When she flipped through the book, she discovered that it was complete with detailed pictures and a star chart that folded out from the back.

The book entertained Tonks for quite a while. She found Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, which she had always thought was quite a befitting name for her dear old cousin, bright as he was. In personality, that is, not intelligence.

Tonks also found the constellation for which her mother, Andromeda, was named after. Then she ignored all of the other stars for which she had relatives named after; she could care less about the rest of her family, they were evil to the core.

With a bit of inspiration, Tonks began to search the book for interesting names in hope of finding suitable middle names to complete the names her and Remus were thinking of for the baby. She searched the star chart continuously but had so far failed find any good names.

On this particular morning, Tonks and Remus were eating breakfast in bed. They never bothered eating downstairs now, since bacon was a must-have at any Weasley breakfast. Besides, it was nice to be able to enjoy a meal to themselves every once and a while. Nobody was trying to steal the food off of their plates before they could eat it. It was a wonderful thing to be assured that you would have the chance to eat everything on your plate.

As Tonks and Remus casually enjoyed their meat-free meal, they discussed baby names. It had become a new tradition; every night before they went to sleep and every morning during breakfast, they would throw ideas back and forth.

Remus finished chewing a particular bite of food before he asked, "How about Christopher?"

"No," Tonks answered, not caring that her mouth was full of food, "I've never liked that name. What about Orion?"

"Orion?"

"Yeah, it's a constellation."

"Did you forget that it was also Sirius' father's name?"

"Alright, scratch that idea. I don't want any child of mine named after some infamous dark wizard."

"I'm right with you there, love."

Tonks stabbed idly at food on her plate as she said, "I'm all out of ideas right now. We can pick it up again tonight."

"Not tonight, Tonks."

"Oh duh!" Tonks hit herself on the head. "I'm sorry, I forgot. It's a full moon tonight."

"That's alright. So what did they say?"

Remus was referring to Tonks' decision to ask Harry and Ginny to accompany her throughout the night. Harry would be for protection in case something should happen, and Ginny would be there for moral support. And as Tonks had decided for herself, she would be staying up all night while Remus had his transformation safely down in the basement. Remus wasn't pleased with her decision, she really needed her rest, but if she had made one thing clear, it was that she would stay up whether he wanted her to or not. In an attempt to make Remus happier about her staying up, she decided to ask Harry and Ginny to stay with her.

"Oh, they both agreed to," Tonks answered. "Then Ron and Hermione happened to overhear, and they wanted to come too. So did the twins. Oh, and Dylan sort of invited herself…well, I was about to ask her, but she beat me to it."

"Sounds like a party to me."

"Yeah, well we're just gonna play some games and stuff, nothing too exciting. I think they just like the idea because it gives them an excuse to stay up for the night unsupervised."

"Wait, now I'm confused. Unsupervised? I thought the whole reason for this was for them to be with you."

"Yeah, I know, but I think they consider me too much of a kid myself to rat on them if they do something stupid. They even have proof to back it up."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, well there was the other night, when the twins got drunk. We never did tell their parents. And then there was the whole thing when I 'lost' Harry. I guess they are right about me."

Confused, Remus asked, "Why didn't we tell Molly and Arthur about the twins?"

"We got distracted, remember?"

"Oh yes, that's right…. Well, you're all set then for tonight?"

"Yep."

"You know you don't really need—"

"I know, but I want to stay up to wait for you."

"I really wish you wouldn't. You need your sleep, you can't miss a night like this."

"I'll be fine. Besides, do you really think I'd be able to sleep knowing what you're going through all night?"

"Alright, but you have to promise me you'll at least try to get some sleep while you're waiting."

"I will."

"Good. And remember," Remus looked very sternly at Tonks, "For no reason _what so ever_ are you to come down there."

"But you'll have taken you're potion, so you wouldn't hurt me."

"No!" Remus looked very serious and quite possibly slightly scared. "I am not going to risk hurting you or our baby, do you understand? You are _not_ to go down there until the sun rises for _any _reason."

"Yes, but what if—"

"I don't care about 'what if's. No matter what crazy things that could possibly happen tonight, I promise you that I will be fine." Remus looked Tonks in the eye, "I will be fine. I can take care of myself. All I want is for you to stay out of harm's way, alright?"

"Alright."

"Promise?"

"Yes, I promise."

"Alright then, are you finished with breakfast?"

"Yeah."

"Tonks, you barely touched anything."

"I know, it's just…I know I'll be sick soon enough, so why should I bother trying to eat something that's just gonna come right back up?"

"I still wish you would try to eat. You need to get something in you."

"I'll eat later at lunch. When is Snape coming by?" Tonks knew that Severus would be coming by sometime that day to drop off Remus' potion. She had no idea why he continued to brew potions for Remus, but Tonks' only guess was that someone of importance had ordered him to… as to who had issued the order, Tonks had no idea.

"I'm not sure, he may have come by earlier this morning."

"When do you need to take it?"

"Soon." Remus stood up and grabbed the tray with their breakfast dishes on it. "I'll be right back, love. If you need me, just call."

"Ok, thank you."

Tonks got up, too, and headed towards him. He kissed her cheek just as she was snatching a piece of remaining jelly-covered toast off of the tray; she was beginning to get hungry now…not that she felt up to eating a full meal. However, she thought she might be safe with some toast.

As Remus left the room, Tonks headed to the other door, the one leading to their own personal adjoining bathroom. Tonks loved this house, if only for the fact that it was huge and seemed to have enough bedrooms with adjoining bathrooms to accommodate all of the couples currently staying in the house. It was certainly an interesting house, and nobody was sure of its exact size. Whatever it was, it was definitely more than it appeared from the street outside.

Tonks loved having a bathroom that she only had to share with Remus. She never had to fight with anyone when she wanted to use it and she never had to wait for someone to get out. Of course there was Remus, but he always let her go first and even if he was taking a shower when Tonks wanted to take one, that didn't stop her – yet another bonus. Their taking showers together went completely unnoticed while they shared a bathroom to themselves. Tonks was quite happy to avoid giving Molly more chances to yell at her for being a bad influence.

Appreciating the awesomeness of having a private bathroom for at least the hundredth time, Tonks began to get ready for a shower. She took off her pajamas (alright, Remus' pajamas), put on a bathrobe, and turned on the water in the shower. While she waited for it to get warm (one problem with so many bathrooms in the house and so many people using them constantly – it took a while to get warm water if you couldn't use your magic), she sat on the counter and ate a bit of her toast. Of course, she almost instantly felt sick and had to run over to the toilet – yet another reason to be grateful for a private bathroom. No one else had to watch or listen to her being sick, except for Remus of course.

Speaking of the Devil (actually quite the opposite), Remus walked in just at that moment and instantly went to Tonks' side as she was forced to clear her stomach of what little she had eaten that morning. He wet a cloth for her and handed it to her as she finished so she could wipe her face off.

"You alright?" he asked her.

Tonks merely gave him an annoyed look, as if he should know if she was fine or not, having just watched her puke up the contents of her stomach for what seemed like the thousandth morning.

"Well, do you think you're done for now?"

Tonks nodded weakly – she always felt weak after being sick in the morning.

Remus picked Tonks off the floor and set her on her feet while still holding on to her tightly. She tried to hold herself up, but when she realized she wasn't capable of standing on her own, she let Remus continue holding her up.

Tonks half-whined, "How much longer did the healer say this would last?"  
"Another month or so."

"How lovely," Tonks muttered sarcastically.

While still supporting Tonks, Remus took his wand out of a pocket of his robes. With a wave, he turned off the shower and instead, the tub began filling up with water. Once it was full, he magicked the water to be the perfect warm temperature.

"Tonks," Remus said, "you're going to have a bath, alright?"

"Not a shower?" Since Tonks couldn't have coffee anymore, she used showers as a way to wake up in the morning. Baths had quite the opposite effect on her.

"Sweetheart, you can't stand. You'll just have to live with a bath today."

"Oh, alright." She agreed with him: there was no way she could hold herself up in the shower. She was still weak from before, and she knew the weakness wouldn't go away until she ate something.

Remus helped Tonks get over to the tub and get into it without hurting herself, then he left her for a while to enjoy some time to herself. He came back later to help her out of the bath and into some clothes.

"Want to take a nap?" Remus asked.

"No, I want to go eat."

"Are you sure your stomach is up to it?"

"Uh huh."

"Okay, I'll go get you something."

"I can go with you."

"Are you sure? I don't mind bringing it up here for you."

"I know you don't mind, but I'll go with you and eat down there."

"If you're sure that you're up to it."

"I'm fine, Remus."

With that, they left the room, and seeing as Tonks was still quite weak, she continued to use Remus for support. She did feel much better, though.

Shortly after Remus and Tonks appeared from their room, they ran into Ron and Harry in the hallway, waiting very impatiently for the hallway bathroom. Ron was banging his fists on the door, while Harry had given in to sitting on the floor, twiddling his thumbs and tapping his foot rapidly on the floor.

"Good morning, boys," Remus greeted them, causing Ron to temporarily stop trying to knock the door down. "Who are you waiting for to get out?"

"The girls," Ron answered, "They've been in there for hours."

"We have not!" Hermione's voice yelled from within the bathroom.

"Have too!" Ron shouted back.

"Have not!"

"Have too!"

"Have NOT!"

"TOO!"

"NOT!"

They continued arguing immaturely while everyone else ignored them.

Finding this whole situation a little amusing, and quite annoying, Tonks said, "Harry, would you like to use our bathroom?" While Tonks loved having her own space, she wouldn't need it again (hopefully) for a while, and surely Harry wouldn't take very long.

"Oh please, could I?" Harry bolted up from the floor looking at Tonks as if she was a savior, all the while praying that it wasn't a joke. He had been waiting for what felt like hours and all the bathrooms were either full or, like Tonks and Remus' bathroom, it was just for them. Really, he had given up on the whole idea of a shower a while ago, but he _really_ needed to use the bathroom and at this point, he was seriously considering going outside before he exploded.

Tonks answered, "Yeah, go ahead."

Harry ran over to her, hugged her and kissed her cheek while continuously thanking her before he ran off towards their room.

Noticing this, Ron stopped arguing with the girls (Ginny and Dylan had joined Hermione's yelling) and he turned his attention to Tonks and Remus.

"Where'd he go?" Ron asked curiously.

"Our bathroom," Tonks answered simply. "You can go, too, if you want, but only this once!"

Ron immediately began to run off, but Remus caught his arm, holding him in place.

"And what do you have to say?" Remus asked sternly.

"Umm…Harry better not steal all the hot water?"

"No."

"Uhhhh…"

"Thaaa…" Remus prompted him.

"Oh, thanks Tonks!"

"You're welcome. Just remember, it's only for today!"

Remus added, "And don't make a mess in there!"

Ron nodded his head rapidly.

Remus let go of his arm and Ron instantly ran around the corner to Remus and Tonks' room.

Tonks and Remus continued to walk down the hall. When they got to the stairs, Tonks unconsciously held onto Remus even tighter than she had been – she wasn't too fond of stairs anymore. In fact, she had reason to believe that she now had a very strong phobia of them. Too much could go wrong on stairs.

As they entered the kitchen, Molly greeted them, "Good morning, Tonks! How are you feeling, dear?"

"Fine, thanks."

"Would you like something to eat?"

"Yes please, if you don't mind." Tonks loved Molly's ability to see when someone was hungry.

"Of course I don't mind. It'll be just a few minutes, dear."

"Thank you."

While Molly began to cook Tonks a meat-free breakfast that wouldn't upset her stomach, Tonks and Remus sat down at the table with those who remained in the kitchen. Bill and Fleur sat on one side of the table with many papers spread out before them. No doubt they were last minute wedding plans that they were discussing quietly. Arthur sat at one end of the table reading a newspaper. He glanced up as Tonks and Remus sat down.

"Oh Remus," Arthur said. "Severus just came by and dropped this off for you," Arthur pointed at a small cauldron sitting on the table that held a gently bubbling potion. It held Remus' Wolfsbane potion to help him through the transformation that faced him tonight.

"He also left this," Arthur handed Tonks a box wrapped in black paper.

"What is it?" Tonks asked curiously.

Bill looked up from the papers on the table to answer. "Severus heard of your news and wanted to congratulate you," he glared at the small box. "I don't believe it."

Remus snatched the box out of Tonks' hands before she noticed what he was doing. "Bill has a very good point, Tonks. It may be something to hurt you."

"Or you," Tonks argued, "Because he knew you'd be paranoid and wouldn't let me open it!"

Remus considered the idea. While he did so, Tonks contemplated taking the box back. Despite Remus' staring into space blankly, he noticed Tonks' attempt and was able to move the box out of Tonks' reach before she ever grabbed it.

"_I_ will open it," Remus said in a voice that was very final and allowed no arguments to his decision.

"Fine," Tonks said, annoyed, "But I really don't think he would do anything to us."

Remus ignored her. He opened the box cautiously and once he could tell what was within, he immediately began to glare at it.

"Sorry, love," Remus said in a tight voice, "you're wrong."

He handed her the box with the gift still inside. Tonks looked in at it. It was a small baby rattle, not some harmful dark device like she had expected from Remus' reaction.

"What's so bad about it?" Tonks asked, confused.

Remus growled, "It's silver."

"Oh."

Bill took the box away from Tonks and looked inside. He picked the rattle up and no sooner had he done so, he swore and immediately dropped it again.

"That bugger burned me!" Bill shouted as he looked at his hand.

Fleur immediately grabbed his hand to inspect it, saying, "Are you alright, Bill? Does eet hurt?"

Fleur and Molly began fussing over Bill, acting as if he was dying or something. Really, it was only a slight burn, albeit a quite unexpected one.

Bill rolled his eyes as he pulled his hand away from his mother. "I'm fine, really, it's nothing."

Molly glared at him, as if he dare refuse her pampering of a wound. "It is more than nothing, Bill. You've been hurt!" She continued muttering to herself as she forcefully pulled Bill's hand back to her and quickly healed it with her wand.

As Molly went back to preparing food for Tonks, Bill muttered, "I didn't realize it would do that."

"Yes, well," Remus answered, "I did warn you that you may experience some side effects from Greyback's attack on you. Apparently you're no longer immune to silver. Now you know to stay away from it."

"Yeah, I'll have to keep that in mind."

Remus looked at Tonks; she had been unusually quiet for the past few minutes.

When she realized he was watching her, Tonks burst out, "Why would Snape do that?"

"I don't know," Remus answered bitterly, "Because he hates me?"

"But what about your potion? Would he have—"

"I don't think so, but after this…" Remus growled quietly at the box sitting on the table, the rattle next to it where it had fallen from Bill's grasp.

Tonks looked at the rattle. It was sort of pretty, but it was silver and Tonks didn't want anything that had to do with silver lying around where it could hurt Remus. Besides, they had no idea how it would affect a child of a werewolf.

"What do you want me to do with it?" Tonks asked.

"Is shoving it down Severus' throat out of the question?"

"Yeah, but if you want, I could try. Although he might stop making your potion."

"Yeah, he would," Remus looked depressed at the thought.

"I'll take care of it," Arthur said as he put the rattle back in the box. "Just leave it to me."

"Thank you," Remus said gratefully.

"Tonks dear," Molly said from over at the counter, "Are you ready to eat?"

"Oh, yes, thank you."

"You're quite welcome. I've got plenty of food over here," Molly pointed to the counter where there were various plates filled with enough food to feed quite a few people (Personally, Tonks felt hungry enough to eat all of it), "So feel free to take what you want. It's all meat-free and none of it should upset your stomach. Now, if you'll excuse me," Molly bustled out of the kitchen to take care of something else.

The boys immersed themselves in a conversation about some important Order thing or another that Tonks could really care less about at the moment. So she got up to pile all of the awaiting food onto a plate for herself. However, as she got up, Harry and Ron came running into the kitchen and, having spotted more food, immediately grabbed plates and began piling the food onto them.

"Hey, that's mine!" Tonks said angrily. She fully planned on eating all of the food Molly had cooked for her, and Tonks was not in a mood to share.

Harry immediately put set his plate down and began to back away. Ron, however, continued to cheerfully pile his plate full of Tonks' food.

"You snooze, you lose," Ron said as he focused his attention on the food. "Really, in this family, that's the way things go. The sooner you learn, the better. See, I'm doing you a favor."

"Ron," Harry tried to talk some sense into his friend before someone got hurt, "We can't eat her food. It's just not right to take food from a pregnant woman. Besides, I'm sure your mum will make us some more soon. We could always make our own."

Ron looked at Harry as if he had sprouted an extra set of eyes on his head. "Are you serious? I'm not gonna make my own food when there's some right here! I'm starved, let's just split this food and we'll get more when Mum comes back."

"No," Tonks protested, "That's my food! Molly made it special for me to make sure that no pork came near it. You're not getting it!" Tonks added to herself, _I can't believe I ever let him use my bathroom._

Harry was furiously pulling on Ron's arm, trying to get him to leave the food be and get out of the room.

"Stop it, Harry," Ron told his friend before turning back to Tonks. "No offense, Tonks, but how do you plan on stopping us? You don't have magic!"

Harry was about to say something, but he froze, staring at something just past Tonks. Ron froze, too, but he also took on a slight green tinge and his face paled considerably.

Tonks was about to turn around to see what they were looking at, but knew exactly what it was when a comforting hand came to rest on her shoulder. She was wondering when Remus would show up to save her. He certainly took his time.

Remus took care with his words, as if he was trying to keep his temper in check. "Ron, I will tell you what I told your brothers: I don't care if Tonks can no longer do magic. I can, and I won't hesitate to use it on you if you make me mad!"

Tonks could tell that Remus was losing his usual calm demeanor. Unconsciously, he was holding onto Tonks' shoulder tighter and tighter, and his voice seemed to be rising. It was too close to the full moon and he had dealt with a lot that morning. He was very close to reaching the end of his patience, and nobody wanted to be on the receiving end of an angry werewolf on the day of a full moon. It was not a good combination.

Ron tried to argue, "We weren't doing anything to you, we—"

"By aggravating Tonks, you have thereby aggravated me. Now, I suggest that you put down the food and wait until Molly comes to make you more, or do as Harry suggested and make your own. Personally, I don't really care which you choose so long as you give Tonks her breakfast. _Now! _"

That last command came out as an angry growl that made Ron jump in fright. Remus could be very scary when he wanted to be, especially during the full moon when he could feel the angst of the wolf pulling at him more than usual.

_Glad he's on my side_, Tonks thought gratefully.

Ron quickly set the plate down while saying "Yes, sir" in a trembling voice.

Tonks was having a hard time not laughing at Ron; he looked hilarious when he was scared.

Ron practically ran out of the kitchen, closely followed by Harry. While Harry hadn't actually done anything, he still wasn't keen on facing the wrath of Remus on the day of a full moon.

With a burst of amused laughter, Tonks turned around to meet Remus' eyes and joyfully said, "Thank you!"

The anger suddenly flew out of Remus' expression as Tonks rewarded him with a lingering kiss.

With a smile, Remus replied, "You're welcome. Now go get your breakfast before someone else tries to steal it."

Remus returned to the table where Bill couldn't stop laughing at his youngest brother's quick departure.

Tonks piled all of her food on one plate and sat down next to Remus. She ignored the talking around her and focused entirely on her food. Once she had cleared her plate, she tried to enter the conversation, but she just couldn't bring herself to understand what it was they were talking about. Saying that she was lost was an understatement. Tonks soon became bored and she was getting more and more tired by the second.

Making a baby sure takes a lot out of you, Tonks thought with a yawn. 

Remus' arm was around Tonks, making the perfect place for a nap. She could fall asleep and know that he wouldn't let her fall. Besides, his chest made the perfect pillow, and his cloak was a great blanket. She made herself comfortable and was already half asleep when a voice disrupted her slumber.

"Want to take a nap now?" Remus said quietly in Tonks' ear.

"Yep," Tonks said, thinking, _Can't you see I already am?_

"How about I take you up to bed? It's much more comfortable."

"I'm fine." _Back to sleep now._

"Well that's nice, love, but to be honest, I was actually planning on getting some more sleep before tonight."

"Oh, alright," Tonks tried to wake herself up fully, but it just wasn't working. She couldn't even get herself to open her eyes.

"Tonks, you have to get up."

"I am." Tonks was still half asleep, but she honestly thought that she was moving.

"No, love, you haven't even moved yet."

Tonks heard Bill laughing from what seemed like miles away. She could just barely make out a quick conversation that he and Remus had, something about doors and stairs.

"Come on, Tonks," Remus persuaded, "At least sit up."

Reluctantly, Tonks pulled herself up into a sitting position, however she remained learning against Remus with her eyes closed. She felt Remus moving and he repositioned his arms around her. All of a sudden, she felt herself move; he was carrying her again.

_Stupid Tonks,_ Tonks told herself through a haze of sleep, _This is not what he needed today. You need to be looking after him, not the other way around!_

She was trying really hard to wake up so she could walk on her own, but Remus wasn't helping. It was almost like he wanted her to sleep. Whenever she tried to tell him to put her down (it was more of an incoherent mumble than a command), he would just rub her shoulder with the hand that was under her back and shush her. It just wasn't helping. Finally, Tonks lost the battle with her body and drifted off into sleep.

When Tonks woke up, she was in their bed with Remus lying right next to her. Even though he was asleep, he had a protective arm around her shoulders.

Wondering what time it was, Tonks tried to sit up to glance at the clock, but the arm around her pulled her back to Remus.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked.

"Oh, nothing. I just woke up. What time is it?"

Remus held out the arm that was around Tonks' shoulders so that his wrist and watch were directly in front of her eyes. Tonks grabbed his arm and pulled it closer.

"It's 12:30," Tonks said as she let go of Remus' arm and let out a huge yawn.

"Still sleepy?" Remus put his arm back where it belonged: properly around Tonks.

"A bit. You?"

"No, I never was. I just knew that I needed to sleep so I wouldn't be so tired tonight. How about we just lie here and be lazy for a while until you feel more awake?"

"Sounds good."

It was only about two minutes later when Tonks felt the need to get up to use the bathroom.

_Grr,_ Tonks thought, _If I'm not throwing up or falling asleep, I'm peeing. Being pregnant is not fun._

She was trying to wiggle free of Remus but, needless to say, she was losing.

"What do you need?" he asked. "Whatever it is, I can get it for you. You just stay here and rest."

"I have to go to the restroom. But I'd love to see you do that for me. It'd be a cool trick."

Remus immediately let go of her, muttering, "Sorry."

"It's all right." She got up to use the restroom. When she went to wash her hands, her ring slipped off and bounced somewhere. Tonks immediately let out a blood-curdling scream.

"TONKS!" Remus yelled as he barged into the bathroom, thinking something horrible had happened. He came in to find Tonks on the ground on all fours, frantically searching the ground.

"What's wrong?" he asked as hundreds of possible answers ran through his head, all of them pointing to something having gone seriously wrong.

"My ring!" Tonks cried, "It slipped off and now I can't find it! Oh God, and now I'm crying again."

Remus got down on the ground and took Tonks in his arms to calm her down. He took out his wand and said, "_Accio ring_," causing the ring to come flying from wherever it hand fallen and land directly in the palm of his hand.

"I found it," Remus told Tonks, "See? Now please stop crying."

"I'm trying."

"Here," Remus slipped the ring back onto her finger, and then said another spell. "I should have done that in the first place."

"What?" Tonks' tears had almost stopped now that her ring was safely back on her hand.

"It's a spell so that it won't come off until you undo it."

"Oh, thank you."

"You're welcome." Remus ran a hand through his greying hair, as he did when he was particularly worried about something. "Merlin, what a way to wake up," he muttered.

"Oh, sorry. Did I scare you?"

"I thought I was going to have a heart attack."

"I'm sorry, I'll try not to scream again unless it's something important.

"I would appreciate that."

After Tonks was able to get a hold of herself and finally stopped crying, they made their way down to lunch. They ate and then retired to their room for a quiet afternoon before Remus had to make his way to the basement for the night.

In what seemed like no time at all, Remus was getting ready for that night. He insisted on being locked in the basement with a soundproof charm covering the place so that nobody else would hear the transformation or chance being hurt should something go wrong. Not only that, but he also insisted that he be locked up long before the sun should set and the moon should rise. Tonks worried that he'd be lonely or bored, but Remus assured her that he would be fine. He was more worried about her than he was about himself.

Time seemed to fast forward and before Tonks knew it, she found herself sitting all alone, leaning against the hallway wall that sat opposite the door to the basement. She kept her eyes glued to the door, counting down the hours until sunrise. She could hear the noise of giddy teenagers playing poker in the room around the corner; the people who were supposed to be keeping her company on the vigil she insisted on taking.

Feeling more alone than she had felt since before she finally claimed Remus as hers, Tonks put her head on her knees. She gave into it all—the hormones, the stress, the feeling of abandonment from her friends, all of her pent up worrying over Remus—and she cried.

After a while of crying her heart out, she felt someone sit down next to her and pull her into a comforting hug—it was Ginny.

"I'm so sorry, Tonks," Ginny apologized. "We didn't realize that you'd left the room."

Ginny managed to calm Tonks down, but she still had the occasional tear running down her face. The person that Tonks really wanted to be calming her down right now was the one person that couldn't. She wanted Remus, but since she couldn't have him at the moment, she'd have to settle for her friends.

Wondering what was taking them so long, Harry came into the hall. When he realized what was going on, he quickly apologized to Tonks and sat down on Tonks' other side.

Shortly after Harry had come in, Ron and Hermione filed into the hall, apologized, and sat themselves against the wall next to Harry. No longer than a minute had passed before Dylan sat herself next to Ginny, followed shortly by the twins who sat down next to Dylan.

Nobody said anything, they just sat there in silence, looking at one another or staring at the door. Eventually, they all began to fall asleep, creating quite an amusing scene to the two who remained awake.

On the one side of Tonks, The twins had fallen asleep leaning against each other, with Dylan resting her head on Fred's shoulder. Not too far from Harry, Ron and Hermione slept. Ron had put an arm around Hermione, and she was using his shoulder for a pillow while his head had fallen lightly on top of hers. Ginny had moved positions to squeeze between Harry and Tonks, and was now curled up sleeping happily against Harry.

Harry and Tonks were the only two awake, both refusing to let sleep take them. Tonks was determined to be there for Remus when he emerged from the basement. Harry, on the other hand, had a responsibility to protect Ginny and, until Remus was back to himself, Harry had taken on the responsibility of protecting Tonks, as well. He refused to neglect his duty by falling asleep.

Tonks looked around sleepily at everyone, and said quietly to Harry, "Thanks."

"Hey, what are friends for?" he responded equally as quiet, so as not to wake Ginny.

Tonks smiled as she returned to staring at the door. She leaned her head back against the wall, all the while keeping her eyes locked on the door. When she felt her eyes getting heavy, she started telling herself:

_Don't fall asleep, Tonks. Don't fall asleep! Only a few hours left…you can make it! Just don't fall asleep. Don't…fall…asleep…Don't fall aaaaasleee…_


	25. Partying Part 1

Oh this chapter is so much fun. No really, it is. Oh just go read it.

Disclaimer: We own nothing, blah blah blah, JKR rules the world, yadda yadda yadda.

**Ch 25 – Partying Part 1**

There were only four days left until Bill and Fleur's wedding, and they seemed to be lacking a crucial experience that is vital to the wedding process…bachelor and bachlorette parties!

Both the guys and the girls left the house at the same time; both said they were just going to go to dinner to hang out, tell jokes, give advice, and _nothing_ else. Both lied.

--------------------------

The girls headed out to a restaurant in Diagon Alley for a girl's night out. For the first hour or so, they enjoyed their dinner. Molly gave advice to Fleur on married life and Fleur gave advice to Tonks on wedding planning while the 'kids' listened, occasionally making comments. It was all rather boring.

After dinner, Molly insisted on taking Fleur out for dessert just between the two of them, as a sort of welcome-to-the-family routine. They promised not to take too long.

When they came back, Molly looked slightly teary-eyed and quickly departed for home claiming to be exhausted. She gave the kids permission to stay so long as they promised to be good and followed the rules.

The moment the door closed behind Molly, Fleur let out a long sigh and rolled her eyes. Then she began to rant.

"Zat was torture!" she complained. "Eet was 'take care of my little boy' and 'Oh I can't believe Bill iz so grown up' and ''E's getting married! You will take care of him, right?'. Zen she started on about grandkids! Kids? We're not even married yet!"

Fleur collapsed in a chair, saying, "I need a drink!

--------------------------

The boys headed off to a restaurant/bar in Muggle London where they met Charlie. They started off the night with a good dinner that the boys bolted down quickly. As soon as the last person had finished eating, Charlie abruptly stood up, almost knocking his chair over as he did so, and proclaimed that it was time to go up to the bar and get Bill drunk. The twins were quick to jump on the idea and, along with Charlie, they dragged Bill up the stairs to the bar.

"Hey, Dad," Ron asked, "We can go too, right?"

Arthur thought about it a moment before responding, "I guess so, but stay with your brothers, and whatever you do, don't tell your mother about this!"

"Thanks, we won't! Come on, Harry, let's go."

Harry followed Ron upstairs to the bar, leaving Arthur and Remus talking contentedly at their table in the restaurant. Once up the stairs, they spotted the Weasley clan gathered around the bar.

"Hey guys, over here!" Charlie called when he spotted the teenagers. "Do you want anything? It's on me."

"What," Ron asked, startled, "Like a drink?"

"Yeah! I mean, why not?"

"Charlie," Bill intervened, "They're not of age."

"Oh stop talking and start drinking," Charlie argued, "If you're sober enough to think about laws, then I'm clearly not doing my job as your best man."

"Oh, and that's to get me and my underaged brother drunk?"

"Correction: you, _our_ underaged brother, _and_ the infamous Harry Potter. Well, if he agrees. Bill, you, on the other hand, have no choice."

"I'm older than you," Bill protested. "You can't tell me what to do!"

"Yes I can. This is your bachelor party, and I'm your best man. I'm supposed to make sure your last bit of time being single is enough to make it through your long, boring marriage."

"So you're going to get me drunk? Wow, well that's fun."

"Well yes, that, then…Well, you'll see."

"Charlie! What have you planned? I told you no strippers, dancers, or otherwise!"

"Relax, big brother, I have planned nothing you'll be mad about—" Charlie muttered under his breath, "After you're drunk," earning some mischievous laughter from the twins—"so just don't worry. Here, have a drink. Yes, drinks all around! Bartender, a bottle of fire whiskey and six shot glasses!"

"Should we really let them drink?" Bill asked.

"Yes! Bill, they're seventeen. Only a year a way from being legal. Besides, it's not like _they_ care," Charlie nodded his head toward the bartenders.

"No, but Dad will, and Mum sure as hell will."

"Dad won't care that much, and Mum, well, she won't know!"

"Alright, but if we get in trouble for this—"

"I know, I know, you'll kill me, right?"

"Oh yeah. I'll put all the blame on you and watch as Mum tears you to pieces."

"Ouch."

The bartender arrived with Charlie's order, and Charlie proceeded to pass around the shot glasses, filling each of them with firewhiskey.

Charlie raised his glass and said, "Here's to Bill! May he hopefully come to his senses sometime before he says 'I do'!"

Bill said with mock disgust, "Thank you so much for your support, Charlie."

"Anytime!"

"Cheers!" Everyone but Bill raised their glasses

Bill added, "Here's to a huge hangover in the morning!" and raised his glass to meet the others.

"That's the spirit!" Charlie shouted as the glasses clinked together.

They all threw the shots back, although Harry hesitated before finally throwing his into his mouth.

_Ack!_ Harry thought, _Merlin, that burns going down! Oh great, Charlie's pouring more. I hope I take to this stuff soon, because it looks like I have no choice but to drink. This will be one long night and it's sure to be one hell of a sickening morning tomorrow._

After they finished off that bottle of firewhiskey, Charlie ordered beers to go around, and they started playing drinking games like 'I Never' and other stupid games that only alcohol can seem to make fun. Unfortunately for them, they were so well acquainted with each other that everyone was forced to drink mass amounts of alcohol.

By the time they started playing 'Bullshit', Harry hoped to recover from his pathetic loss at 'I Never'. However, he didn't take into account just how drunk he had become. And, well, he wasn't so great at lying. Every time he tried, he ended up laughing uncontrollably. Needless to say, Harry was wasted. But he most certainly was not alone. Every single one of them seemed to be completely wasted. The only one who was worse off than Harry was Bill, and that was because Charlie kept shoving alcohol down his throat every chance he got.

Charlie was the only one not entirely wasted. Oh yes, he was drunk, but he refused to let himself get to the point of being absolutely wasted. When it was time to go to where he had been planning to take them, he wanted to be able to remember where it was he wanted go.

--------------------------

The girls had moved to a local bar, where they could be found sitting in the corner laughing hysterically at some not-so-funny story that Hermione had just told them. They found it hilarious, though, mostly because they were all drunk, including Hermione. Well, Tonks wasn't, but she sat there drinking her virgin strawberry daiquiri and laughing at them all. Not laughing _with_ them, but _at_ them. Drunken people are hilarious, especially when you know that they aren't usually like that and you're sober enough to remember all the embarrassing stories they tell to the world. It provides excellent blackmail for the future.

Ginny couldn't believe that she was drunk. Really drunk. She was sitting in a bar with Fleur, a pregnant woman, and two other underage teenagers, drinking some kind of alcohol and getting more and more…drunk. How did this happen? She wasn't really sure; it all seemed a bit blurry.

But nonetheless, here they were, drunk in a bar, swapping funny stories about themselves.

"Hey," a tipsy Dylan shouted over the loud music, "I think it's Tonks' turn!"

"Yes, come on Tonks," Fleur prodded, looking more than a little disoriented, "Maybe you 'ave a story to tell about when you were with Bill?"

Tonks sat there, staring at Fleur, wondering if she had heard her correctly.

"Oh, I know," Ginny interrupted, "Tell us the story when you were at Hogwarts with Remus!" Ginny had been dying to know what had happened. Well, not what they did, she knew that well. She didn't want nor need the details, but she wanted to know why they were there and why they were drunk. Besides, it sounded safer than a story about Tonks dating her oldest brother and Fleur's soon-to-be husband.

"Um, no." Tonks replied.

"Aww, come on, Tonks. You haven't gone yet. It's your turn."

"I'm not drunk, I don't have to play."

"But you would be drunk if you weren't pregnant, right? So if you weren't pregnant right now, you'd be telling us anyway."

"But if I wasn't pregnant right now, that would mean that nothing happened at Hogwarts and there would be no story to tell, right?"

"Uh…I don't know, I'm drunk!"

"I noticed."

"Just tell the story!" Ginny shouted.

"Yeah!" Everyone agreed. It was something that all of the girls were curious about.

"Yeah," Dylan approved, "Or I'll tell it for you!"

"Oh, alright," Tonks gave in, "But this is the only story I'm telling tonight, got it? And I'm leaving out the intimate details."

"Fine by me," Ginny answered. "All I wanted to know was what led up to that."

"Okay, well let's see…It started out when…"

* * *

A/N: Alright, sorry for that ending there. You'll just have to wait a bit longer for the story that you've all been dying to hear. We couldn't have all the fun in one chapter, could we? Mwahahahahah…. 


	26. Drunken Madness

Today is Jewel's 18th b-day, so wish her a very Harry Birthday. Ahem, I mean a very Happy Birthday.

Alright, now the conclusion to the…well, drunken madness. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: We own nothing but the lovely plot line and the wonderful Dylan. JK Rowling holds claim to all else.

**Ch 26 – Drunken Madness**

"Well," Tonks began, "It all started when Remus and I were at Hogwarts after Dumbledore's funeral. Once all of the students had left and the Hogwarts Express had departed from its station in Hogsmeade, McGonagall asked us to help clear out the castle of any stragglers and to help secure Hogwarts. We had to make sure all windows and doors were closed and locked and that all of the wards were up. Quite a task with such a huge place.

"Well, we were almost done for the night. We had just finished the Gryffindor tower and all we had left to do for the night was the room of requirement and the divination room."

--------------------------

"So, um…" Tonks was saying, "How do we know if this room is secure?"

She was standing in the middle of the room of requirement. Neither she nor Remus had any trouble getting inside the room; they had both had quite enough experience with the room during their years at Hogwarts.

Tonks stood in the empty and dark room, with Remus directly behind her, his hands on her shoulders.

"That's a good question," Remus responded. "Maybe concentrate on it being secure?"  
"That sounds _way_ too easy."

"It's worth a shot. Come on, concentrate."

"Oh all right," Tonks sighed. _Room, be secure, be secure…The first thing I'm gonna do when we're done is find some firewhiskey!_

A bottle of firewhiskey suddenly appeared on the ground.

"What's this?" Remus picked up the bottle. "Firewhiskey…wow, Nymph, I didn't know that firewhiskey helps secure a room. Thanks for the tip."

"Oh anytime," Tonks took the bottle out of his hands. "And don't call me that."

"What? I only said a portion of your name."

"Well you're not allowed to say any of it."

"But as your new boyfriend, I thought I was supposed to give you some kind of pet name."

"Well yeah…I guess so."

"I choose Nymph."

"Well that's nice, Remus, but I won't respond to it. I might just end up killing you if you keep saying it."

"Fine, have it your way, Tonks." Remus looked around the room, thinking, _This is taking forever. I just want to go up to my room and sleep._

Suddenly, a large, comfy, four poster mahogany bed covered in a red and gold comforter and lots of pillows appeared in front of them.

"Now that one wasn't me!" Tonks protested. "Oh, Mr. Lupin, what is on your mind?"

"Sleep. Just sleep, that's all!"

"Uh huh, sure."

Ignoring Tonks, Remus said, "How about we just get McGonagall to do this one herself, seeing how we're not sure how to secure it and all. We can just do Divination and be off to bed."

"Oh," Tonks said playfully, "To bed, huh? Yours or mine? Or we could always use this one."

"That's not what I meant, Tonks. Come on, let's go do the divination room."

"In a minute, I'm having some of this."

A pair of comfortable chairs appeared, with a table between them complete with a deck of cards and two glasses on top of it. Tonks sat down in the nearest chair and poured the firewhiskey into the glasses.

"Come on," Tonks beckoned, "Join me!"

Remus stared at Tonks blankly.

"Oh come on, one drink won't kill you."

"Yes, it's just…"

"What?"

"It's…" Remus looked at Tonks' pleading expression, "Oh, nothing. One drink."

"Awesome. You up for some poker, too?"

"Why not."

…_Later, after a few games and several drinks each…_

"Uh, Remus," Tonks looked questioningly at the cards he was showing her, "That's not a full house."

"Its not?"

"Uh no, that's a two, not a three."

"Oh…so it is…"

"Are you alright? Is something wrong?"

"No, me? I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Oh yeah. Another round?"

"Oh what? Poker or drinks?"

"Both!"

--------------------------

"Wait," Ginny interrupted Tonks' story, "Lupin…drunk?"

"Yeah," Tonks answered cheerfully, "he's a lot more fun then. Now, on with the story."

--------------------------

_…Even later, after waaaaay too many drinks…_

Tonks was now sitting in Remus' lap, laughing at just how drunk he was…and pumpkins, because they're just a weird fruit. They had given up on poker, and had now settled on odd, drunken discussions, such as the weirdness of pumpkins. Because, well, pumpkins are a very weird fruit, according to Tonks.

After that discussion, the night started to get really blurry to Tonks.

_…Later, as in next morning later…_

Tonks woke up in a big bed, not recognizing anything around her.

_Where am I?_ Tonks asked herself. _Merlin, why does my head hurt so badly?_

Tonks sat up fully in bed and the covers fell down. _Oh my God!_ She immediately pulled the covers back up. _Where are my clothes, and why aren't they on me?_

Then it hit her…last night, the immense amount of alcohol she consumed—_they_ consumed.

_Where's Remus? Oh no…_The last part of the night hit her. After getting wasted and bored of poker, they started having the oddest conversation…something about pumpkins…_Pumpkins? What the bloody hell was in those bottles?_

Then, for some odd reason they began making out, and well, with the bits of memory Tonks could remember and the lack of clothes, she put two and two together and came up to the conclusion of what they had done last night. She was left only to wonder where Remus had gone, and if they had at least remembered to be safe.

--------------------------

"Well," Tonks concluded her story, "Then I got dressed and went to go find him."

"Where was he?" Ginny asked.

"Well, I looked in the divination room thinking he would be trying to finish what we were supposed to have done the night before. When I didn't find him, I went back to the room of requirement and found him there. He said he had gone to ask McGonagall to secure the room. And, well, that's that. End of story."

"Great story," Ginny commented."

The rest of the girls agreed.

--------------------------

_Back to the boys…_

After exhausting the drinking games, the boys moved onto the pool tables and the dart boards…which didn't seem to work out so well, seeing as they were all quite drunk. Charlie, being the only one of them that had even a bit of sanity left, found amusement in watching them play. Over half the time someone tried to shoot a pool ball, they missed and either ended up hitting themselves or someone else with the stick. Ron almost poked his own eye out before Charlie made him sit down for a bit. He was absolutely pathetic, having had no prior experience with holding their liquor.

The whole gang was quite pathetic. At one point, Fred stumbled into the ladies room, although whether by accident or on purpose, Charlie wasn't quite sure. Charlie quickly put a stop to the darts game before it got out of control, seeing as Harry almost threw a dart at George's head. Although, he supposed that was to be expected, as Harry had sputtered something about the stupid dartboard flying around and splitting in two. Charlie quickly forced Harry to sit over with Ron.

Once the twins jumped onto the pool table and began their rendition of some sappy love song, Charlie decided that it was time to move on to the next part of the evening.

"Alright," Charlie said as he made his way over to Bill who was sitting at the bar, having an in-depth conversation with a bottle of firewhiskey. "Come on, Bill, time to get going."

Bill spun around quickly to look at Charlie and, consequently, had to wait a few moments for the world to come back into focus. "Where we going?" he asked curiously.

"It's a surprise," Charlie replied with a fiendish grin. "You'll just have to wait to find out."

"Oh, alright then. Come on, boys," Bill yelled over towards his little brothers.

"No!" Charlie shouted at once. "They aren't coming, it's just us. It's too mature for them."

"Hey!" Bill eyed his brother accusingly, "You promised no strip—"

"No, you told me no strippers. I never promised anything. Here, have another beer," Charlie shoved a bottle into Bill's hands, and he promptly began to drink it without complaint.

Charlie made his way over to Ron and Harry as the outraged twins jumped off of the pool table and began to chase Charlie down; they'd heard Charlie's conversation with Bill, and they believed themselves to be plenty mature.

When they got near enough, Charlie shoved the twins into chairs next to Ron and Harry, cutting off their arguing.

"Alright," Charlie began before he could be cut off, "You guys stay here with Dad and Remus, while Bill and I go have some fun."

"No! George shouted. "We wanna go, too!"

"Yeah!" Ron and Fred shouted quite loudly. Harry didn't join in; the only place he wanted to go was to bed.

"No," Charlie protested, "You're too young. But hey, before my wedding I'll have a bachelor party and I promise you can go see the strippers."

"Hey, no fair!" Ron argued, "You're never getting married!"

"Nope!" Charlie said cheerfully. "So stay here and have fun."

"Hey!" George began, "Why are we too young? We're—"

"Nineteen," Fred continued, "And plenty mature enough."

"Because I said so," Charlie answered simply.

"You can't do that!" Fred glared at him.

"You're not dad." George pointed out.

"Or mum," Fred added.

"So we're going to need a better reason," George finished.

"Does dad know where you're planning to go?" Ron asked before Charlie could answer the twins.

"No, do I look stupid?" Charlie asked, looking offended.

"WE'LL TELL HIM!" The twins shouted mercilessly.

"You wouldn't!" Charlie was quite taken aback.

"Oh yes, yes we would," Fred answered.

"Unless, of course," George proposed, "You take us with you. Then we won't tell."

"I WILL!" Ron shouted, furious that his brothers would leave him behind.

"Oh shut up, Ron," Charlie said, glancing at his youngest brother, "You are _not _going to tell, and if you do, I'll have no problem making your life a living hell, little brother."

Ron folded his arms and leaned back in his chair looking cross, but he knew he had lost the battle. There was no way he could go up against an angry Charlie. The twins could give him a run for his money, and Ginny could get anything from him that she wanted, but Ron never even had a chance.

"What about us?" The twins asked simultaneously.

Charlie looked like he was weighing up his options for a few seconds before he reluctantly responded, "Alright, but not a word to anyone, got it?"

"Yes, sir!" The twins shouted, saluting Charlie and looking like a pair of soldiers…or minions.

"Come on," Charlie led the boys over to the bar, "Bill, let's go. You guys ready?"

"Yep!" The older Weasley brothers replied.

"Come on, you two," Charlie motioned to Ron and Harry.

"You're taking us?" Ron looked astounded.

"Yes, back to Grimmauld Place."

"No! Come on, Charlie, be a cool big brother!"

"No, that's Bill's job. But he's currently drunk, so get over it. You're going back and keeping your mouths shut, or I'll tell Mum that you went to the bar when you said you were only going to the restroom…and then you persuaded the bartender to give you beer and you got wasted while we were frantically searching for you while thinking the worst."

"But—" Ron protested, thinking that this wasn't fair at all.

"So shush!"

"Oh…fine!"

"Good boy," Charlie patted him mockingly on the head.

Using the back way out of the bar—in case his dad and Remus were still there—Charlie led the drunken group around the building. He peeked into the front window and, noticing that their mature adult supervision had left, Fred was voted to go in and see if they had left a note for them. After stumbling back out of the door, Fred held a piece of parchment up for Charlie to see. It said that Arthur and Remus had gotten tired and went back to headquarters, and that the boys should be good and safe and not stay out too long.

Charlie then escorted Ron and Harry back to the house and left to go see the strippers that Ron so desperately wanted to see.

As Ron and Harry made their way up to their room, attempting to be quiet and failing miserably as they kept tripping and falling over their own feet as they attempted to climb up two flights of stairs.

Ron kept mumbling complaints about no-good older brothers who were too protective for their own good, while Harry kept trying to order the staircase to stop swaying back and forth and tipping him over.

Miraculously, they made it into their room and it was all they could manage to shut the door and flop onto their beds before they crashed.

--------------------------

_Back to the girls…_

After more drinking and story telling, the girls decided to make their way home. Little did they know, as Tonks opened the door, the older boys (who had just come in mere seconds before) were still standing in the front room.

Charlie saw the door start to open, and he immediately dragged Bill off before Fleur could see what he had done to her soon-to-be-husband. Fred and George took off running up the stairs and made their way straight to their room (or as straight as a pair of drunken Weasleys can).

Maybe luck was on the boys' side, or maybe the girls were just a little too preoccupied, but either way, they didn't see the boys' drunken scramble towards their rooms.

"Wow," Tonks muttered as she dragged a passed out Hermione through the front door, "I feel loved."

She was followed shortly by Fleur and Ginny who were hanging on to each other, swaying back and forth, and singing some odd French song.

Tonks thought, _It seemed that alcohol has this odd affect of bring enemies closer together. Merlin, if I only had a camera,_ she thought for at least the millionth time that night.

"Okay everyone," Tonks said, closing the door behind the group while still holding onto an unconscious Hermione, "Up to bed."

Tonks turned to Dylan, who looked really out of it and kept muttering things in a French accent that sounded remarkably like Fleur. Apparently, she got kind of weird when she was drunk…as if she couldn't rightfully separate her thoughts from those of the people around her.

Shaking her head with confusion, Tonks said, "Dylan, Ginny, can you two take Hermione to bed?"

"But she doesn't want to go to bed," Dylan protested.

"How—But—I don't want to know," Tonks looked at her wearily. "Just take her to bed before she wakes up and starts arguing for herself."

Ginny wrapped one of Hermione's arms around her shoulders to support her side. Dylan seemed to struggle with herself for a moment before she grabbed Hermione's other side and the pair stumbled along with a limp Hermione between them.

Choosing to ignore the strangeness of the situation, Tonks asked Fleur, "Can you get yourself to bed?"

"Yes, thank you," Fleur replied as she ran into a wall before righting herself and making her way up the stairs.

"Alright, then 'night," Tonks said as she yawned widely and went to find her own fiancé.

And that is the end of an extremely interesting night for all parties involved.


	27. Visions and Fallacies

This chapter was fun. It's a very important chapter, too, as much as it seems it isn't. So pay attention. You may just find that future happenings will relate quite closely to this chapter. Mwahahahahah…feel the power of foreshadowing! Alright, alright, sorry, I got a little carried away.

And to everyone who has ever reviewed, thank you for all of the wonderful reviews! You guys are awesome! Really, you make writing worthwhile.

Disclaimer: We're merely manipulating JKR's Potterverse. It doesn't actually belong to us; we're just using it to satisfy our evil imaginations.

**Ch. 27 – Visions and Fallacies**

Bill and Fleur's wedding came quickly. The day before the wedding, Fleur was in such a state of panic that Ginny seriously wanted to petrify her just to make her stop. Charlie kept trying to talk Bill out of marriage, saying that bachelordom was so much better. Luckily, neither Bill nor Fleur gave into the pressure and their wedding came and passed without incident.

The wedding wasn't very large and was held in the newly refurbished gardens at the Burrow, however it was still quite spectacular, mostly due to Fleur and her mother's say in the events. The reception was quite fun for all parties involved. It was also held outside at the Burrow, and there was much dancing and drinking to keep everyone entertained. It was a madhouse, to say the least, having so many drunken Weasleys together, but it was still very fun.

After the reception, the newlywed couple left for their honeymoon, and everyone else returned to Grimmauld Place to continue whatever it was they normally did, this time with two less people to crowd the house.

It was now a few days after the wedding, and only one day before Harry's seventeenth birthday. It being morning still, Tonks had just gotten showered and dressed for the day without any signs of morning sickness, much to Tonks' excitement. Remus was downstairs talking to Harry and Kingsley, who had been in charge of researching the horror-kicks thingies. Everyone else was trying to make it look like they weren't eavesdropping on the conversation.

Personally, Tonks could care less about it. Sure, she wanted Voldemort to die a slow and extremely painful death, but she didn't want to help the fight anymore. Alright, so a part of her brain still screamed for the action and glory of helping to bring down the evil git, but Tonks tried to shove that part to the very back of her head. She was more worried about the safety of her unborn child, and she knew that if she helped in any way, her child's safety would be put at risk, not to mention that there was no way in hell Remus would let her do anything. He wouldn't even let her research! He seemed to think that it was too much stress on her. If anything, the boredom was more stress, in her opinion, but she kept that complaint to herself…for the most part.

Alright, so when Tonks and Remus had visited the maternity healer the other day, she _might_ have said something to the effect that Tonks needed to avoid stress…and that Tonks needed to gain more weight…and all sorts of other not-so-good things. Needless to say, neither Tonks nor Remus was very happy. They were both mad at themselves for letting this happen. Tonks felt that she should have been staying healthier, and Remus felt that he should have been keeping her healthier. The healer did try to tell them that it was nothing they had done wrong, but neither heard her.

Now, Tonks was standing in front of her bathroom mirror, staring at her stomach with her shirt pulled up. She was beginning to show slightly, and it was not something that made her jump up and down for joy. She didn't want to stop wearing her favorite jeans or her favorite Weird Sisters band tee.

"Get over it, Tonks," She told herself. "It'll all be worth it in the end."

_If you make it to the end,_ the thought crept in from the back of her head. It was always there, just below the surface. She wished that thought would just go away.

"No, Tonks!" She told herself sternly. "You can't think like that. I am going to have this baby. I _will_ gain more weight and do everything else that the healer told me to do. The baby will be perfectly fine."

Despite what she told herself, Tonks was on the verge of crying—again. For she had already cried quite a bit that day, and it was only morning.

"Stupid hormones," Tonks muttered. And the bad part was that it would only get worse. The question was, how worse could it get? But she didn't want to think about that right now. All she wanted to do was go find Remus so he could take her in his arms, kiss her tears away, and tell her how everything would be just fine.

So Tonks pulled her shirt back down and left her and Remus' bedroom to go find him. Not able to stop the tears rolling unbidden down her face, Tonks searched the house with her tear-blurred vision to find where Remus, Harry, and Kingsley were.

Tonks found a closed door surrounded by the kids with their ears pressed up against it. She barely noticed that the room next door also held a few of them, pressing their ears up to the wall. Tonks tried to stop her crying before they noticed, but she just couldn't, so she gave up.

When they heard her footsteps, they immediately turned away from the door, ready to make some excuse if it had been Molly who walked up behind them. However, when they noticed that it was Tonks and that she had tears streaming down her face, they immediately stepped away from the door, allowing her entrance.

Quietly, not wanting to disturb the meeting, Tonks opened the door just wide enough for her to slip in before she closed it behind her again. Kingsley was talking to Remus with his back towards the door, so he didn't notice her come in. Remus, however, did notice her. It only took him a fraction of a second before he noticed that she was crying, and without offering an apology of any sort, Remus turned away from Kingsley and rushed over to Tonks, taking her in his arms.

"Shh, Love, it's all right," Remus whispered to Tonks, rubbing her back as she cried into his chest. "I'm here, it's okay."

Tonks tried to stop crying, really she did, but she just couldn't, and she continued crying on his shirt.

"What's wrong?" Remus whispered kindly to her.

"I'm scared," she whispered so quietly that even with Remus' escalated hearing, he only just managed to make out what she said.

Seeing Tonks scared and crying completely undermined Remus' own calm demeanor. Tonks was an auror; she didn't scare easily. Kingsley and Harry forgotten, Remus took a deep breath to calm himself before picking Tonks up and taking her to their room. He set her down on the bed and tried to stop her crying.

After much reassuring that the baby would be fine and that there was no way in hell that he would let anything happen to either one of them, Tonks finally stopped crying and was able to calm herself down.

Satisfied that Tonks was happy again, Remus made his way back to the meeting, this time with Tonks by his side. He had come to realize that most of her recent emotional breakdowns began when he wasn't with her. So he decided that they would avoid it in the future and he would just keep her with him at all times.

As they walked back to the room, they heard panicked voices coming from the room next door to it, where a few of the 'kids' had been eavesdropping earlier. Remus and Tonks rushed into the room to find the kids gathered around Dylan, who was lying on the floor, occasionally twitching.

"What happened?" Remus asked quickly, scanning the room with his eyes.

"I'm not sure," Ginny answered. "We were listen—umm, hanging out in here when Dylan sort of went rigid and collapsed."

"I think she's having a fit or something," Ron explained, as Harry and Kingsley came into the room, having heard the commotion through the thin walls.

"We tried to help her," George said.

"But every time we get near her," Fred continued, rubbing his shin, "she kicks us away."

"She needs medical attention!" Hermione advised. Yes, that was always Hermione's advice. Go to the experts straight away. "What if something is seriously wrong with her?"

Remus was about to open his mouth to say something, but at that moment, Dylan abruptly sat up and stared wide-eyed at him.

"We need to get out of here," she said quickly, her voice shaking slightly. It was completely out of character for her normal carefree and all-knowing self.

Taken completely by surprise, Remus could only say, "What?"

"What the hell is going on here?" Ron half-shouted, looking slightly pale.

"Ron!" Hermione hissed at him.

"What?" He said defensively. "Do you know what's going on? Because I sure don't."

"I had a vision," Dylan answered, not only to Ron, but to everyone else's curious thoughts as well.

"Is that normal?" Ron looked at her as if she had sprouted horns.

"Yes," Dylan answered matter-of-factly, looking at him as if he were stupid. Actually, more like she _knew_ he was stupid. "Although they normally aren't like this one. This one was…different. Normally, I get a glimpse into the future a few seconds ahead of now, and it's never as strong as that one. It's like…like it was trying to show me just how important this could be."

"Well, what happened in it?" Harry asked curiously from behind Remus.

"Well, it was really confusing. And I have no idea how far ahead in the future it is. It could be in a few minutes or a few months for all I know. And it was all dark, so I'm not sure where we were. But there were Death Eaters, and we were running from them. All I know is that the Death Eaters tracked us down and we had to run for it…and something happened to one of our people, but I don't know who or what it was. Future visions are always tricky."

"So they're going to find us here?" Remus asked, concerned.

It was a statement of how confused Dylan was that she waited to answer until the question had been asked.

"Yes. Well, I think so. I'm not sure where we were; I couldn't see any of our surroundings very clearly. I told you, this vision was different than the ones I normally have. I usually know everything about them. This one was…fuzzy. And I don't know why."

"But you said we needed to leave here?" Remus asked, clearly just as confused as everyone else. He had never had the experience of knowing someone who had actual visions before. And there was no doubt that she had had an actual vision, given the evidence.

"Well, yes. I may not be sure where we were, but my guess is here. All of my visions are something that would happen if I didn't interfere. And if we leave here, it was because of my interference. Which means that it shouldn't happen then. So yes, I think it was them finding us here."

"Because that makes perfect sense," Ron said sarcastically.

"It does!" Dylan replied simply.

"But they can't find us here," Hermione argued. "What about the Fidelius charm? With Professor Dumbledore gone, nobody new can enter this place. It makes this place safer than even Hogwarts. They could be standing right outside this place and not even know it existed. They can't find it, they can't see it, and they definitely can't enter it."

"Hey, the future never lies," Dylan said superiorly. "So, are we leaving or not?"

Remus looked at Tonks, then shifted his questioning gaze to Arthur and Molly who had appeared in the doorway right behind him sometime during the spectacle.

After a few minutes of silence, Arthur finally answered, "I think we may have to."

"But where will we go?" Molly asked quietly, so only the adults could hear.

Tonks answered just as quietly, "Is there even another place in existence with as many protective wards as there are here?"

"Not that I know of," Remus muttered.

"May I make a suggestion?" Dylan said loudly, interrupting the quiet conversation that had been going on just between the adults.

"I think we're definitely open to suggestions at the moment," Tonks answered, feeling way out of her league.

"What about the Fallacy?"


	28. Mass Mayhem

WE'RE SORRY! Will you ever forgive us? We took an eternity and forever to update, and we're so very very sorry. I, Taela, have started an _insane_ senior year with no free time to speak of, and Jewel has just started college. Needless to say, we've been very busy. We felt so guilty for leaving you guys like that, so we've gotten a new chapter out as soon as possible. Although, it is a bit short and could have been a bit better, but it's better than nothing. And with any luck, we'll have the next chapter out much much sooner. And believe us, it's about to get good. 

**Disclaimer:** Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me, er…us! Arrr, mateys! We be not JK Rowling. We asked her if we could be her for a day, but she was disinclined to acquiesce to our request. Nah, we be just humble pirates. We own nothing but this plot, which surprisingly we did not pillage. Hmm…so we did the courageous thing. Normally we like to wave at those moments as they pass by.

All right, so that was a bit of pirate-ness in lieu of International Talk Like a Pirate Day, which is today (Sept. 19). And, as most of you will notice, we incorporated our love of Pirates of the Caribbean. Yes, so on to the long-awaited chapter now. Finally. (Can we say sorry again?)

**Previously:**

"So, are we leaving or not?"

"I think we may have to."

"May I make a suggestion?" Dylan said loudly, interrupting the quiet conversation that had been going on just between the adults.

"I think we're definitely open to suggestions at the moment," Tonks answered, feeling way out of her league.

"What about the Fallacy?"

**Ch 28 – Mass Mayhem**

"The what?" Ron blurted out.

"The Fallacy," Dylan replied impatiently. "It was my father's house, and we'll be safe there."

Everyone stared at her for a few seconds without response.

Rolling her eyes, Dylan continued, "You know, my father, Albus _Dumbledore_? He's got every type of protective ward imaginable on that property. You could be _inside_ that house and still not be able to find the person you're looking for."

Still silence. Dylan began to fidget quite obviously.

Finally, Remus said, "That sounds like a good plan. Besides, I'm sure Dumbledore's house would be safe. We can check the wards ourselves, too, as an extra precaution. Molly, Arthur, what do you think?"

Arthur answered, "I think it's the best plan we got."

"I agree," Kingsley added from the back of the group, "You guys leave. Don't worry, I'll notify all of the others in the Order and let them know to stay away from here for a while. Just get yourselves out."

"Thanks, Kingsley," Remus said gratefully.

"Let's go already!" Dylan half-shouted, looking awfully pale.

"How do we get—" Remus started.

Dylan interrupted, "I got that covered, just get everyone ready and downstairs, fast! We've wasted too much time already!"

Remus noticed that Dylan kept fidgeting and incessantly playing with the ends of her now auburn hair. She looked…nervous. He had never seen her nervous before. Normally, she walked around without a care in the world. Clearly, she thought something terrible was about to happen…and soon.

Molly took one glance at Dylan, then ordered, "Alright then, you lot, get your things quickly and hurry downstairs. We'll meet in the kitchen in fifteen minutes—"

"Ten!" Dylan corrected.

"Alright," Molly appended, "Ten minutes. Now get going!"

And with that, everyone ran off and the household was upgraded from a mild level of chaos to one of absurdity.

Remus and Tonks hurried to their room, where Remus began shrinking all of their things as Tonks threw them into their trunks.

Suddenly Tonks stopped, eyes wide open and said, "Oh no!"

"What is it?" Remus answered, worried about her as always.

"Where's Wear?"

"Oh…I don't know. Try looking under the bed."

Sure enough, the lucky little bear cub lay in a big, fuzzy ball underneath the bed. Tonks pulled her out and gently placed her on the bed next to the two full trunks.

"Is that everything?" Remus asked, looking at the packed trunks and the empty room.

"I think so. Lucky Wear was in here, or we could have left her!"

"Very lucky."

Remus charmed the trunks into the air and out of the room, where they presumably made their way safely to the kitchen. He then walked over to Tonks and put his arm reassuringly around her.

"Come on, love," he said gently, "The sooner we leave, the better."

"Are you sure we got everything?"

"Pretty sure. Besides, if we end up forgetting a few things, it won't really matter. All we need to do is get somewhere safe."

"And all this time we thought we were," Tonks replied quietly, absorbed in her thoughts as she picked up Wear.

Remus, arm still around Tonks, led them out of the room and downstairs to the kitchen where their trunks and some of the rest of the group were waiting. Molly and Arthur stood restlessly by the luggage, looking worried. Dylan's trunk and dog were there as well, but no sign of the Seer herself. Hermione's things also sat among the pile, with Crookshanks in his carrier sitting on top.

"Are the kids almost ready?" Remus asked the Weasley matriarch.

"I think so," Molly answered, wringing her hands. "They just have a few more things to grab, and Charlie should be here—"

As if on cue, Charlie strode into the kitchen, trunk in tow.

"Huh?" He asked dumbly. "What about me?"

Molly answered, "I was just about to say that you would be here soon, because you were already packed to return to Romania in the morning."

"Yeah," he huffed, "I would have been ready before now, but it appears I was forgotten about."

"Oh, I am so sorry, dear, we were all just so crazy."

"It's all right, Mum, I understand. You want me to go get the kids?"

"That would be wonderful, Charlie," Molly answered enthusiastically.

"I'll come with you," Remus offered. "I need to find Dylan and figure out how exactly she planned we would get there."

Ginny had just finished packing her trunk while listening to Dylan rant about how nobody was moving fast enough. Fred came in and magicked her and Dylan's trunk away, and Ginny set out to find Harry and Ron.

When she reached their door, Ginny made to knock on it, but she found it already open a crack. A heated argument could be heard coming from inside.

"But Harry," Hermione warned, "Tonight just isn't the right time. Let's wait until we get settled into the Fallacy and we know that everyone else will be safe, then we can leave."

"I wanted to leave today, anyway," Harry argued moodily. "This just makes it easier. We don't have to get attached to another home."

"Come on, Hermione," Ron persuaded, "The sooner we get started, the sooner it will be over."

Hermione continued to fight the losing battle, but someone tapped Ginny on the shoulder and she was startled out of her eavesdropping. Remus stood directly behind her. Ginny opened her mouth to explain, but he put a finger to his lips signaling her to be quiet.

"Sorry," he whispered apologetically as he gently spun her around and pointed towards the end of the hall, silently directing her to go downstairs to the kitchen.

Ginny huffed, annoyed, but went without a fight. She did drag her feet in an attempt to overhear just a little more, though. Remus was trying to spare her the details of what the golden trio was talking about, but she knew plenty already. She knew exactly what they had been talking about. Harry wanted to visit the site where his parents were buried, and then the three of them were off to save the world, without her, of course. Just like it always is.

She hated that her best friend, brother, and boyfriend were all about to go off, risking their lives to become legendary heroes while she sat back at home so she wouldn't get hurt. She was _not_ the type of girl to sit back and be saved. She wanted to help bring down Voldemort. Still, Ginny knew there was no way in hell Harry would let her come along. He had a serious hero complex, and while she loved him for it, it could get very annoying sometimes.

Ginny spun around as she reached the stairs at end of the hallway, glaring half-heartedly at Remus' back as he walked into the room and closed the door behind him. Was his hearing good enough that he had heard their argument, as well? And what would he say to them about it? Would he stop them?

Stomping her feet a little louder than necessary on the stairs, Ginny made her way to the kitchen. There was no need to keep quiet in the entrance hall, because Mrs. Black had woken up quite some time ago, and nobody bothered to keep her quiet with all of the chaos.

"_FILTHY BLOOD TRAITORS TAINTING MY HOUSE! THAT'S RIGHT, LEAVE, COWARDS—_"

"Oh shut up," Ginny snapped at her angrily before walking downstairs into the kitchen.

The kitchen was madness incarnate.

"Come on, people, hurry up! Hurry up!" Dylan shouted as she paced around the kitchen, playing nervously with her hair as she muttered to herself.

Ginny worried about her, but decided there was nothing she could do for now, and instead examined the pile of luggage She never quite trusted Fred and George with her things, and wanted to make sure her trunk had made it down safely. Speaking of the devils, they came rushing in at that moment, arms filled with random joke items they couldn't bear to leave behind.

Shortly after, Remus, Harry, Ron, and Hermione joined the chaos, completing the group.

------------------

How could he tell her? Remus had promised Tonks that he would never leave her, that he would stay to protect her. Now he had to tell her he was leaving? She would be devastated. He didn't want to leave, but he knew he needed to. He had to, for Harry's sake and for the sake of a brighter future. He could only hope that Tonks would understand.

Remus walked into the kitchen with the trio in tow, whispering quietly amongst themselves. He would have listened to their conversation had he not been preoccupied with worrying about how to break the news to his fiancée. How could he tell the woman carrying his child that he was about to go off on an extremely dangerous mission for who-knows-how-long searching for horcruxes with the trio, right underneath Voldemort's disgusting, snake-like nose?

When he had gone to talk to the kids, he tried convincing them that the Order had it under control. With no luck, of course. Then he tried the old 'you're too young' excuse—that didn't work either. Then he tried to explain that they couldn't manage something of this scale all on their own—somehow (he still wasn't sure how), he had managed to be volunteered for the job of mentor, escort, and horcrux-hunter all rolled into one.

The kids had gotten all excited, saying how he would be perfect and how his help would be just the thing they needed, what with his vast amount of knowledge and wonderful reflexes. They wouldn't have to run away, because an Order member would accompany them on their mission. Besides, Remus could lead them to Godric's Hollow.

Their enthusiasm and devotion finally won Remus over, and he grudgingly agreed, hoping Tonks could forgive him sometime within his lifetime. Remus was supposed to be looking after Harry as well, and if Remus hadn't agreed, Harry would have gone off on his own—something that would definitely not be conducive to a healthy, living future.

"Hey, guys," Harry said loudly over the chaos of the kitchen in an attempt to get everyone's attention. Only a few looked his way. "I have something I need to say," Harry practically shouted.

Everyone stopped and looked at him. Even Dylan stopped her pacing.

Harry opened his mouth to begin, but Dylan promptly cut him off with a fiery glare and a shout of, "It can wait!"

"No, no," Hermione told her reproachfully, "It's important. Go on, Harry," she smiled encouragingly at him.

"Well, you see—"

"Really, Harry," Dylan cut him off again, "It can wait. In fact, it really should wait."

"But—"

"Harry," Dylan glared at him, her temper flaring, "We need to leave, _now_. We don't have time for you to explain everything and get everyone worked up. Wait until we get there. It's best for everyone's health."

"Fine," Harry huffed as he crossed his arms and glared right back at Dylan.

"Good! Now let's go," Dylan said with relief.

"Ah, yes," Remus began. "How exactly are we leaving?"

"This!" Dylan said cheerfully, taking off a necklace of a golden star on a fine, gold chain.

"Is it a specialized portkey?" Remus asked curiously.

Dylan looked up at him with a blank face, her eyes glazed over. Remus had the impression that she was rooting around in his mind for the meaning of a portkey. He didn't like the thought of it.

Suddenly, her attention snapped back and she smiled, replying, "Yes, it is. It leads directly to my father's house by my command only. Multiple use, of course."

"Wow." Remus was impressed. That must have been quite an intricate spell to create something like that. Then again, it was Dumbledore's doing. "Can I see it?" he asked.

"Sure," Dylan handed it over.

Remus engorged the necklace, making it large enough that everyone could grab a hold while still holding on to his or her luggage.

"There," Remus said, looking around the kitchen. "Everyone got their things?"

Every person nodded their head.

"Good, now everyone gather around and grab on to the necklace."

He waited for everyone to grab a hold of their luggage and touch a spot on the enlarged necklace.

"Right. Dylan?" Remus looked to Dylan.

She scrunched her face in concentration, and after a few seconds, the portkey took action, spinning off to a place that only the newest and strangest member of the household knew of.

* * *

**A/N:**

As an apologetic gesture for our tardiness, we've decided to share with you wonderful readers the top secret project we've been working on for just over a month now. In fact, it's probably one of the reasons why it's taken us so long to finish this chapter. Yes, we proudly present to you…a lovely cookie from the sequel to this fanfic. Yes, there will be a sequel. And yes, we've already planned it out into oblivion.

Well, on a little weekend trip we went on not too long ago, we were struck by a bout of brilliance and created this one particular glance into the future. Waaay into the future. But we loved the idea and wanted to get it down on paper before we forgot. So we've got this lovely segment of the sequel written out, and we've decided to share it with our avid readers for the purpose of receiving feedback.

So now, do you want to read it? We're only going to allow a few people to read it, as it gives away many, many, many spoilers. If you don't mind the spoiler drawback and would like to offer us some constructive criticism on a possibly very confusing glance into the future, then be sure to let us know in your review, and we'll send the first part to you via the email you have listed on fanfiction. Thank you!

-Taela and Jewel, signing out. Yo ho.


	29. The Fallacy

We offer our sincerest apologies to all of our wonderful readers. We realize that we have not updated this story in quite a while, but life has been very busy lately, and our muse seems to have run away for a time there. But it came running back recently, so we hope to start picking this story back up again. It's about to get very interesting.

Disclaimer: Just because a new year has come around, it does not mean that we haven't transfigured into a pair of JK Rowlings. While that would be really cool (and quite possibly disturbing), it hasn't happened, and therefore, Harry Potter and all of JK's universe that appears here sadly does not belong to us.

**Ch. 29 - The Fallacy **

The group landed roughly on a dirt path, directly in front of a huge, wrought iron gate with stone walls extending outward from either side of it. The gate itself was a sight to marvel at. Composed of many intricate designs, the gate seemed to overwhelm the eyes at first glance. Its entirety consisted of various star designs, none of which followed a particular pattern. It would take days sitting in front of this masterpiece to fully appreciate its beauty and complexity.

Beyond the gate, presumably lay the house. Except, all that met the eye was a dead plot of land. Weeds grew up from the barren dirt, and only a few clumps of grass struggled to survive. It looked like nothing had lived here for quite a while, and there was not a house in sight in which a person could have lived, whether a month ago or a hundred years ago.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Remus asked Dylan, his eyes darting from the locked gate to the empty patch of dirt beyond.

"Of course it is," Dylan replied as she smiled fondly at the gate. She took her enlarged necklace out of Remus' hand.

"But where's the house?" He asked curiously.

"You'll see. Now, how do you make this small again?" Dylan held the necklace up to Remus.

Seeing the necklace before him, Remus realized that the necklace somehow matched the gate, despite the inconsistency of its patterns. Confused and curious, Remus waved his wand and the necklace shrunk back down to its original size.

Dylan proceeded to walk up to the gate and insert the star of the necklace into one of the many star designs of the gate. It fit perfectly. Had she tried to insert it in any other spot of the gate, it would not have worked. Not only that, but the outcome would _not_ have been beneficial to any of their healths.

Dylan turned the star necklace as if it were a combination lock, and the place she had inserted it in the gate strangely turned around with it. She spun it to the right, twisting it to an exact spot known only to her. Then, she spun it to the left slightly before twisting it back to the right and stopping at the exact place the gate required of her. A soft click emitted from the gate just before one of its doors quietly swung open. As it did so, the true property was revealed.

There was no dead plot of land beyond the gate now, but rather, a beautiful path leading up to a magnificent house. The grass was green and well kept, and there were flowers and trees aplenty. The house itself was a small castle made of light-grey stones. It was rather large for a house, but not so big to be absurd. Behind the castle rested a small lake, and beautiful gardens surrounded the house. The stone walls that extended from the gate wrapped around the property, serving as physical protection, and quite possibly laced with magical protection as well. The property was rather large, and it was impossible to see the back stone wall while standing at the gate.

"Welcome to the Fallacy," Dylan said happily as she walked through the gate. "Now get inside. If the place is being watched, they'll see you standing out there, gawking at barren land like a bunch of idiots."

The whole group merely blinked at Dylan, still in awe of Dumbledore's house. It must have taken some powerful magic to hide something as big and beautiful as this house just in front of their eyes.

"Well come on," Dylan urged impatiently. The vision was still fresh in her mind.

The group finally grabbed hold of their things once more and walked inside the gate. As they marveled at the property some more, Dylan closed the gate behind them. She inserted her necklace into a different spot of the gate where her necklace fit perfectly once again, turned it like a combination lock again, and once more, the gate clicked. She pulled her necklace out, put it back on, and pulled on the gate to verify that it was, indeed, locked.

"Ok, come on, everyone," Dylan told the group as she rolled her eyes. "Let's go inside the big, pretty house instead of just standing here gaping at it like it's the Queen's treasury."

With that, Dylan briskly set off up the path, not bothering to check if the others were following her. She unhooked her dog, Salazar, from his leash, and let him run free on the grounds.

The assorted group made their way up the long path to the house, following in the wake of Dylan's steps as their trunks and belongings floated slowly behind Arthur and Remus, who had taken the responsibility of levitating everyone's trunks into the house.

The walk up was not long, per se, but it did take a few minutes to reach the house. Even so, none of them seemed to mind the walk. In fact, it was quite peaceful. The nice, dirt path was covered by trees to keep the sun off, and beautiful flowerbeds lined the walkway. Butterflies floated lazily on air currents, landing on flowers and people when it suited their fancy. Birds cheeped quietly in the trees, and not a single disturbing sound met their ears. It was quite different from Grimmauld place, with its dark, gloomy atmosphere and city sounds. This place seemed to fill its occupants with a sense of calm and cheerfulness.

Occasionally, the path would split, with a subsidiary path leading towards another part of the property, such as the greenhouse or the lake. Finally, the path ended with two small steps that led to a little porch. Just beyond that lay the grand entrance to Dumbledore's Fallacy. The entrance consisted of two huge, solid wood double doors, the size of which could easily accommodate one the size of Hagrid, if not someone larger. The doors were adorned with several intricate designs, much like the gate had been. In fact, the designs seemed to be quite similar to the gate, with stars being the pattern of choice.

As soon as Dylan reached the doors, she wasted no time in opening them, and walked inside without waiting for the others, who could have gladly admired the doors for a while before stepping foot inside. Instead, they followed Dylan in.

The inside of the small castle was just as breathtaking as the grounds, gate, and front doors had been. Despite being decorated with expensive artifacts and furniture, the house still managed to feel inviting and quite casual. The colors of choice seemed to be purples, reds, and golds, and the house seemed so much like Dumbledore that many of the group could be seen wiping their eyes.

Arthur and Remus let everyone's belongings fall gently to the floor in the entrance hall before they, and everyone else, followed Dylan into a large living room.

The room was filled with various trinkets, like the rest of the house, but it was also filled with a few couches and many chairs, providing plenty of seating for each member of their motley group. There were tables laden with refreshments and snacks near each seat. A fireplace blazed with warm radiance, giving the room a very comforting feel.

Dylan immediately sat down in a plush chair near the fireplace, grabbing a cookie from a nearby table and nibbling contently on it as she ignored everyone else. The rest of the group joined her, picking various seats around the room. No one seemed to notice that they filled the seats perfectly. Not a seat remained empty, and not a single person was left standing. Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny sat together on a large couch with a big coffee table in front of it, with four glasses and a large tray of cookies awaiting them.

"These are my favorite!" Ron shouted as he started grabbing cookies with both hands and shoving them in his mouth one after another. Hermione elbowed him in the ribs, causing him to spray a mouthful of cookie out, but resulting in a much slower pace of eating.

On the other side of the room, Remus and Tonks sat together on a small love seat that fitted them perfectly. Each picked up a glass of tea from the side table and began drinking them. Each glass was sweetened to the exact amount that suited its drinker.

Tonks was stressed, to say the least. In fact, she was very stressed. A lot had just happened in a very short time, and she was still quite confused as to why they were sitting here, in the late Dumbledore's house, instead of sitting in the gloomy kitchen of Grimmauld Place. She just hoped they were safe here.

Tonks sighed, and couldn't help wishing that the tea she was enjoying could have been a nice glass of Firewhiskey to help calm her. She raised the glass back to her lips, only to find that it was no longer tea. It was Firewhiskey. She immediately spat it back into the glass, which to her confusion, was now nothing but water.

Before Tonks could properly react, Dylan spoke up from her chair in the living room.

"The whole house does that," Dylan answered Tonks' unasked question. She looked not only at Tonks, but at the rest of the room, as well. Apparently, they had all had a similar experience to that which Tonks just witnessed. "It's a spell of some kind," Dylan continued. "Basically, the house gives you whatever you want."

"Like the Room of Requirement," Remus said quietly, not realizing that he was thinking aloud.

Both Remus and Hermione seemed to be contemplating whether or not Dumbledore cold have pulled something like this off, while everyone else had facial expressions ranging from glee to embarrassment.

"Yes, it is," Dylan answered, having been informed of the Room of Requirement from Tonks the night of the bachlorette party.

Dylan glanced around the room, noticing with amusement that the twins had already found a new game. They were preoccupied with making random things appear to then vanish, causing things to appear not just in front of them, but also in front of others. They were currently amused with trying out different ladies' hats on Ron's head while said victim made each hat abruptly vanish with his own wish of not being humiliated.

Dylan glanced around at everyone else's reactions, only to notice that the mentioning of the Room of Requirement seemed to bring forth many different memories of the room, which each and every single person seemed to carry. As she examined each of their amusing or embarrassing memories, an evil grin spread across Dylan's face.

_My, my, _Dylan thought to herself. _What have we here? This Room of Requirement seems quite popular with the mischievous and romantic. Why, even the adults have had their fair share of embarrassing run-ins with it._

As Dylan turned her mischievous smirk on Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, they realized what she had just seen in their minds. Each began to blush furiously, and Dylan could no longer hold in her laughter.

Ginny and Ron also noticed the blush creeping across their parent's faces, and each looked in horror at the other when they realized just why their parents were blushing. They had clearly done something disreputable in the Room of Requirement during their Hogwarts days. Ron and Ginny felt they would have been better off without that piece of knowledge. Dylan thought the looks on their faces were priceless, though.

Suddenly, Dylan became much more amused at what the twins were doing. They had stopped their game of making hats appear on top of Ron's head, and instead started making random things appear behind people, smacking them upside the head, only to disappear when the victim spun around to see who had hit them.

"Will you two stop it!?" Molly shouted at Fred and George after she had been hit twice, once by a fish and once by a rubber chicken. Her flush of embarrassment quickly turned into a flush of anger. "Really, with the way you two act, you'd think you were a pair of first years instead of 19-year-old business owners."

"Sorry, Mum," the twins replied in unison, each hanging their heads slightly at the scolding. It was a habitual reaction. They would be back to their first-year selves within minutes. There wasn't a scolding in the world that could change those two.

"Arthur," Remus said suddenly, "Perhaps we should go inspect the wards on this place. I'm sure they are more than we could ever come up with, but it never hurts to be sure."

"Better safe than sorry," Mr. Weasley agreed. "Shall we go now, then?"

"Yes, I think that would be best. Dylan, am I right in assuming that when we go outside—"

Dylan cut him off, answering, "If there's anyone or anything on the other side of that gate, all they'll see is a dead plot of land. They can neither hear nor see you."

Dylan then rolled her eyes as Molly said, "While you two do that, I think I will get Dylan to help with sorting out room assignments."

Remus, still sitting on the small loveseat, pulled Tonks close to him and kissed her on the cheek.

"I'll be right back, love," Remus told her, smiling a reserved smile as if he were holding something back from her.

Before Tonks could ask him what was wrong, he stood up and walked across the room. Instead of going over to Arthur, who was already walking out of the room, Remus went to Harry and started speaking with him just as Hermione pulled Ginny away from both their couch and Remus and Harry's conversation.

"I need to talk to you, Harry," Tonks heard Remus say. Owing to the fact that they were clear across the large living room and that it was a whispered conversation they were now holding, Tonks only managed to pick out parts of it. She heard something about needing to plan, and apparently Ron and Hermione were in on whatever needed planning, too. Tonks was very confused to say the least, and then she heard Remus say, "I still need to tell her."

_Her who? _Tonks thought curiously. _Is he talking about me? Why would he talk about me in a whispered conversation with Harry, of all people?_

Then, Harry reluctantly stood up and found himself being gently dragged away with Remus. Apparently, Harry didn't want to talk. Remus wasn't giving him a choice. And Tonks was extremely confused.

Tonks looked over to Dylan (she always knew what was going on), but she had vacated her seat and was standing with her back to Tonks as she talked to Molly. Tonks stood up to hopefully ask Dylan what was going on with Remus and Harry, for she was way too impatient and curious to wait for Remus to return to ask him. He would probably take Harry along with him and Arthur as they surveyed the grounds and the wards.

As Tonks neared Molly and Dylan, she heard Molly ask, "Dylan, dear, where should we—"

"This way," Dylan answered as she walked off, going deeper into the house.

Molly quickly ordered everyone to follow, and follow they did. The twins took the lead, just behind Dylan, as they levitated everyone's trunks before them.

Dylan led the group out of the living room and back into the foyer, proceeding down the hall and towards a magnificent, twisting staircase. Much to Tonks' disappointment, Dylan led the group right up those stairs. Tonks followed to the base of the staircase, staring up at the grand staircase as the others made their way up it. She was about to give some lame excuse that would leave her to stay downstairs until Remus came back, but the stairs suddenly started moving slowly upwards, like a muggle escalator.

"Hey, cool!" One of the twins shouted up ahead as the staircase began moving and the other twin fell flat on his face with the sudden motion.

Tonks ignored them, grabbed hold of the handrail, and stepped on to the bottom step. It took her slowly upwards, and all she had to do was grab on to the rail with both hands and close her eyes tightly. She could hardly feel herself moving. It wasn't until the stair glided to a gentle stop that Tonks opened her eyes to find the group staring at her oddly and she realized that she had reached the top. Tonks patted the handrail as one would pat a loyal dog before following the group around a corner and into a new hallway.

Dylan stopped abruptly, and turned around to look at her followers. She gestured to the hallway, which was lined with many identical doors. "Pick a door," she said as she turned around and began to walk off.

"Wait, what?" Ginny asked, entirely confused.

Dylan stopped to look at her. "Pick a door."

Everyone stared at her blankly.

Dylan rolled her eyes, saying, "Pick a door, any door, for your room. Pick a door, put your stuff in your room, and then, well, do whatever for all I care."

She picked up her trunk from the pile of trunks now sitting in the middle of the hall, and walked out of the corridor, presumably to find her own room.

Everyone stared at each other for a bit longer, before Fred shrugged his shoulders and reached out for the first door he saw. As soon as he laid his hand on the doorknob, the door morphed into two, bright red doors. Shocked, Fred didn't turn the knob. As he stared, bright orange lettering spread across his door, proclaiming, 'Fred'. George stepped up beside him to touch the other door's handle, and as he did so, yellow lettering appeared, saying 'George'.

The twins glanced at each other, then opened their respective doors at the same time. When they did, they found that the room was large and split down the middle, each side reflecting the exact living quarters its twin preferred.

"Wicked," the twins said together as they stepped inside to inspect the room.

With piqued curiosity, Ron ran to the next door on the right, right beside the twins', and as he reached for the doorknob, the door turned Chudley Cannon orange and said 'Ron' in big, black font. Ron threw the door open excitedly to be greeted by the sight of a glaring orange room littered with plates of various treats. He quickly made his way towards the food.

"My turn!" Ginny shouted gleefully as she ran down the hallway and stood before the third door on the left. When she reached out to it, it turned emerald green, declaring 'Ginny' in delicate gold cursive. Inside, the room was decorated in earth tones, with a simple four-poster bed against one wall and a nice vanity against another.

Ginny disappeared inside it for a few moments before she quickly came running back out to suggest excitedly, "Hermione, you try it!"

Hermione curiously approached the door next to Ginny's room and right across from Ron's room. She studied the door for a moment before she reached out and touched the handle. The door turned a deep blue, with 'Hermione' written in simple and precise font the color of silver. Hermione continued to study the door with interest before Ginny reminded her that there was more to the magic. Hermione opened the door, to reveal simple, classic furniture and several bookshelves packed full with every sort of book imaginable. There was a large, cushy armchair by a window, perfect for some luxurious reading. Immediately, Hermione forgot her initial curiosity and made her way towards the books, scanning the spines and pulling various books off the shelves.

"Tonks, what about you?" Ginny asked.

Startled, Tonks blinked at Ginny before saying, "Right," and proceeded to walk down the hall to put some space between her and the kids. Tonks closed her eyes, waved her arms about a bit, and pointed with one hand in a random direction. When she opened her eyes, she walked towards the door she happened to point to, and said, "That one looks good."

Tonks stood before the door for a minute before she touched it. She was afraid it would turn bright pink, and Remus probably wouldn't like having a neon pink door, let alone whatever absurd colors the inside would happen to be. She wished he could have chosen the room, then it would have been designed to his tastes. And Tonks rather liked Remus' tastes.

Tonks took a deep breath, and reached out to grab the doorknob. Instantly, the door turned a beautiful cherry wood, with the words 'Remus & Nymphadora' neatly inscribed in gold on the front of it. Tonks glared at the door, and it reluctantly changed to say, 'Remus & Tonks'

"Much better," Tonks told it. She smiled and opened the door.

Walking in, Tonks was quite surprised that the place wasn't entirely neon. In fact, the room was quite perfect for her and Remus. A huge, beautiful four-poster bed of the same cherry wood the door was made of drew most of Tonks' attention. She had always loved those types of beds. A large fireplace took up a portion of one wall and flames already flickered in it, filling the room with a comforting warm glow. There was a full bookshelf and two comfortable sitting chairs on either side of it. Tonks was amazed that the curtains, the comforter on the bed, and the chairs all matched and that there were no eye damaging colors to be seen. Granted, the room did have many bold colors and many different patterns to its decorative style, but Tonks felt that Remus would definitely approve.

Smiling happily, Tonks stuck her head out of her door, checking to see what everyone else was doing. Ginny had followed Tonks into her room to see what the house created for Tonks, but apparently Ginny had already left to go to her own room. Tonks saw Molly choosing a room at the far end of the hall for her and Arthur. Everyone else seemed to have disappeared, most likely to inspect his or her new rooms.

Tonks had just sat down in one of her amazingly comfortable armchairs when she heard voices in the hall. Curious, she went out of her room again to find that Dylan had returned and many people had come out of their rooms.

"What's going on?" Tonks asked, noticing that Dylan was deep in conversation with Fred and George.

Ginny answered, saying, "Dylan's going to show us the way to the kitchen so we can eat lunch."

"Did someone say lunch?" Ron came bolting out of his room, half a pumpkin pasty shoved in his mouth.

"Ron," Hermione said exasperatingly from her doorway as she rolled her eyes.

"What?" Ron mumbled out of a still-full mouth. "I'm starved."

"I can see that," Hermione replied dryly.

Ron blushed.

"Hey, Dylan," Tonks began as Dylan turned to look at her. "Where's the—,"

Dylan replied, "There's a bathroom in your room, or—," Dylan pointed to the closest unclaimed room as the door swung open to reveal what was quite clearly a bathroom, "That room's one now."

"Oh," Tonks blinked, quite clearly surprised. "Alright, thanks."

"No problem," Dylan replied as she turned to finish her conversation with the twins.

Tonks went to the hallway bathroom and used the loo. When she was done and realized that everyone had already left for the kitchen, she decided to wander around a bit. This was Dumbledore's house, after all, and she wanted to see what other exciting things it held in store for her. She was also curious as to just how big this house was. Consequently, Tonks managed to get herself hopelessly lost. She did, however, happen to see quite a few vastly interesting things.

Just when she was getting hungry and wanted to find the kitchen to see what Molly had made for lunch, Tonks walked right into the kitchen.

"What the…" Tonks muttered. She could have sworn she was a lot farther away than that.

"Hey," Remus walked towards her, "Where'd you go to?"

"Oh, well I got lost," Tonks replied. "Just how big is this place?"

Dylan asked, "Well what were you looking for?"

"Nothing in particular. I just thought I'd explore some."

"And didn't the house let you do just that?"

"Well, yeah, it did, but…so what's for lunch?" Tonks looked around at everyone, noticing for the first time that something was clearly wrong.

Harry and Ginny were nowhere to be found, Molly looked as if she had been crying, Hermione looked upset and slightly guilty, and Remus was giving Tonks an unconvincing smile.

At the exact moment Tonks was about to open her mouth to say something, Harry came storming into the room, demanding angrily, "Why won't it let me find her? Dylan, why can't I find Ginny? Her room's disappeared entirely from the hallway."

Dylan answered nonchalantly, "Well clearly she doesn't want anyone to find her. The house is only obeying her wishes."

"But I _need_ to find her," Harry growled. "Why won't the house listen to _me_?"

"Clearly her need's greater than yours."

"I highly doubt that," Harry mumbled as he abruptly left again.

Tonks stared unbelievingly at the empty doorway for a moment before she turned to Remus and asked, "What's going on? Why's everyone upset, and why is Ginny hiding from Harry?"

Remus' false smile slid from his face. He took a deep breath and said, "We need to talk. Let's find some place a bit more private."

Grabbing hold of Tonks' hand, Remus gently led her out of the kitchen and to what Tonks thought was the living room they had been in earlier, except that this time, there was only a small love seat and one coffee table in front of a flickering fireplace. Remus gestured for Tonks to take a seat, and once she had done so, he sat down next to her.

"What's wrong, Remus?" Tonks asked sternly. She was getting really worried now. The events in the kitchen did not bode well, and the look Remus was giving her was definitely not comforting. He looked like a guilty schoolboy who had done something wrong and was about to face the headmaster for it.

Remus did not answer her, but merely turned to face her, taking both of her hands in his.

"Remus?" Tonks asked in a weak voice. She felt on the brink of crying, and she hadn't even been given a reason to yet. _I hate hormones_, Tonks thought.

Remus sighed, and said, "There's nothing wrong, I just need to tell you something, all right?"

Tonks wasn't convinced, not by a long shot. Even so, she nodded consent to him as a tear rolled slowly down her cheek.

"And you can't do that," Remus gently wiped the tear off of her cheek, "Or I will never be able to get through what I need to say to you."

"I can't make any promises," Tonks sniffed and mentally gave her hormones a death threat, "But I'll try."

Remus nodded and said, "Tonks, I—I am…" He closed his eyes for a second, before taking a deep breath and opening them again to say, "I have decided to go with Harry and them to help them find and destroy the horcruxes in order to end this war once and for all."

Tonks' heart froze at the word 'go'. How could he leave her? He had promised he would never leave again. She had just gotten him back not too long ago, and she was not about to lose him again. Not now. She needed him now. She needed him now more than ever, for she highly doubted she could do all of this baby business and dealing with hormones without him. And what he was thinking of doing would be very dangerous. Voldemort would be right on their tails, waiting to pick them off when they least expected. Tonks couldn't stand to lose Remus forever.

Tears were flowing freely from Tonks' eyes, and she had yet to say a word to the worried Remus.

Tonks whispered forlornly, "You're leaving me?"

"No! Merlin, no. I'm not leaving you, Tonks. It's just…Tonks, you have to understand. I'm doing this for you."

"Me?" Tonks said much louder this time and with a hint of rage. "How could you be doing this for me if it's the very last thing in the world that I want you to do?

"I'm doing this for you and me and the baby. I'm doing this so that our baby won't be born into the world we currently live in, where everyone is afraid to blink because they or one they love might horribly lose their lives. I'm doing this so that our baby will be born into a better world where there's no Voldemort and where they will be safe to live a happy life." Remus paused before adding quietly, "I'm doing this so that our baby won't have to live the type of life Harry's had to live. No child deserves to grow up like that."

"But why you?" Tonks said through her tears. "Why does it have to be you that goes with them?"

"Harry needs my help. I'm all he's got left, and he's only teenager. He may be a very mature teenager who's had far more experience with Voldemort than any grown adult should have, but he still needs help. I'm the one who has to help him. With my help, I think it will go faster. I think we'll be able to get this over with sooner."

"Please, Remus," Tonks pleaded, holding onto his hands tightly as if she could keep him rooted to this spot by mere force alone. "You can't leave me. You can't. You have to stay here with me, with the baby." Sounding for all it was worth as if the world had suddenly abandoned her, Tonks whispered, "What will I do without you? I need you, Remus." Tonks hiccupped. "Y-you—You pr-romised me."

Feeling as if the world had suddenly ended and all blame rested directly on him, Remus pulled Tonks into a comforting embrace and tried to calm her down, all the while attempting to calm himself. She would forgive him for this. He hoped.

Tonks buried her head in Remus' chest as he gently stroked her hair. Eventually, she managed to regain control of her emotions, although she couldn't stop the freely falling stream of tears. Remus decided to try talking to her once more, and he gently lifted her up a bit so he could see her face. As Tonks looked into his eyes with her own sorrow-filled ones, she noticed that Remus had tears in his eyes, as well.

_Oh, it must really kill him when I fall apart like this, _Tonks thought. _But I just can't help it anymore._

"Tonks, please," Remus pleaded, "You have to understand why I'm doing this."

"I do, Remus, I really do. But you promised me. You said you'd never leave me again."

"I know I did. But I'm doing this to help make a world where you and the baby and, well, everyone will be safe. It needs to be done."

"But you're leaving me," Tonks looked at Remus with the saddest eyes he had ever seen. "Please don't leave, Remus."

"Oh Merlin. Tonks, you can't do this to me. Please don't. If you keep at this, I'll never be able to—they need me, Tonks."

"I need you, Remus!"

"You'll be in good hands here."

"But I want you, not anyone else."

"Tonks," Remus closed his eyes tightly in frustration. How could he go through with this, knowing that he was doing this to the one he loved? Hadn't he put her through enough turmoil just last year when he tried to help the Order by consulting with the werewolves? "They need me, Tonks. Harry needs me. The world needs me to help end this war. Don't you want this to be over?"

"Yes," Tonks replied, staring glumly at her hands.

Remus said quietly, "Then do you see why I have to leave?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to be all right?"

Tonks buried her head in Remus' chest once more, throwing her arms around his middle. Remus held her close, hoping that she could find it in her heart to forgive him for breaking his promise.

After a while of no response to his question, Remus asked, "Tonks?"

Tonks pulled away from him to look him in the face. "You have to swear you'll come back to me."

"I can't make that promise, Tonks. What if—"

"No 'what if's, Remus! You are coming back to our baby and me alive and whole. We are going to win this war, have our child in a safe and happy world, get married and…and we'll move to a nice house in the country. We'll raise our child in the world you help make for it. You will come back to me, Remus…You have to."

Remus put his hand on Tonks' cheek, wiping a tear away with his thumb.

"I will come back, Tonks," Remus promised. "I swear I'll come back to you."

Remus pulled Tonks back to him once more, holding her tight while she cried her heart out into his chest, knowing full well that he might never come back to her.


	30. Evening,

So we're terrible, terrible people and haven't updated in forever. What can I say? You know the drill. Life can get quite crazy some times, and we'd greatly appreciate it if you could forgive us.

Disclaimer: You know the drill.

**Ch. 30 – Evening, (insert bad word here)**

After a long time of comforting Tonks, Remus led her down to the kitchen where they joined the rest of their group who were still sitting around the table, discussing the newest adventure thrown in their paths. Remus made Tonks a late lunch and joined the conversation. Harry returned shortly after, having had no luck of finding Ginny. She still did not wish to be found.

With Harry's reappearance, the group started to work out the final details of horcrux hunting, helping Harry and his fellow searchers to work out the best plan of action. They discussed the finer points of when they would leave, the particular searching strategy they would adhere to, when they would return to the Fallacy, and how they would keep in touch while away. The entire ordeal seemed rather complicated and intimidating, but then again, it would be the next-to-last step in eliminating the most dangerous dark wizard of their time. They would do whatever they had to.

Throughout the entire discussion, Tonks fought to keep hold of her emotions. She did not want Remus leaving her so soon after she had finally gotten him back. At the same time, she knew that he needed to go. His help could be the turning point in tipping the battle towards their side.

Once Tonks had finished eating, the group moved to the living room for a more comforting environment. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Remus, and Arthur discussed where the best places would be to start looking for horcruxes. The trustworthy Aurors, under Kingsley's instruction, had been searching for some weeks to find any available details as to the whereabouts of possible horcruxes. The departing group poured over these notes, with Arthur to add his input. Tonks tried to make helpful assertions, but her head was not in the game. She felt like she was in a daze, quite possibly shock, over the sudden events swirling around her.

Feeling useless, Tonks looked around the room, discovering what everyone else was up to while the important adults discussed serious matters. Molly had disappeared, probably to find her missing daughter. Dylan, Fred, and George, were sitting on the floor, pressing playing cards to their foreheads. Tonks stared at them strangely before she realized that it was some weird American card game called 'Indian Poker' that Dylan had taught them. The player betted on whether or not they thought they had the highest card stuck to their own face. Of course, Dylan was winning. Apparently, the twins had yet to realize that she was reaching into their thoughts to figure out what card she had.

Bored with watching them, Tonks curled up next to Remus on their couch and rested her head on his shoulder. She stared off into space as she tried to figure out how she would manage without him. He had done so much for her lately and she was so glad to have gotten him back. Just as Tonks came to the slightly depressing conclusion that she was way too dependent on Remus these days, she was startled out of her reverie by Dylan suddenly jumping up from her card game and moving to the window.

The group stopped their conversation.

"What is it?" Remus asked Dylan with a hint of concern in his voice.

Dylan whispered to herself, "Minerva…"

"Minerva?" Hermione asked. "Did you say Minerva? As in Minerva McGonagall?"

"Yes," Dylan answered distractedly, still staring out the window in curiosity.

"You know Professor McGonagall?" Harry asked.

"You call her Minerva?" Ron added.

"Yes," Dylan turned to face them. "Why would I call her 'Professor'? She was never my professor, now was she?"

"What about Minerva, dear?" Molly asked Dylan.

"She's here."

Ron spun around in his chair, looking around frantically.

Hermione rolled her eyes and told him, "I don't think she meant in the room, Ronald."

"You never know!" Ron defended.

"How could she be here in the room without us realizing it?"

"Magic, Hermione, magic."

Hermione opened her mouth to retaliate, but Harry cut her off before she could make a sound.

"I'm going to save us an hour of our lives," he said. "This is a stupid fight and you both think you're right, so please save it for later and you can argue about it once we figure out why McGonagall's here. Fair enough?"

Ron and Hermione glared at Harry.

Fighting a grin, Remus said, "Dylan, you were saying?"

"She's at the gate, see?" Dylan pointed out of the window.

Everyone jumped up from his or her seat to stare out of the living room window.

"I don't see her!" Ron complained loudly. "Where is she? She's not—"

Dylan's hand clapped over Ron's mouth and he continued mumbling into the palm of her hand for a minute before he realized what had happened.

"Do you mind?" Dylan asked him with an annoyed glare. "You were shouting in my ear. And she's right _there_," Dylan pointed again towards the gate. "She's in her cat form, Dumbo."

"Oh," Ron replied quietly as Dylan removed her hand.

"But how—" Tonks began.

Dylan answered, "Minerva's smart. That big guy who said he'd inform the others that we had to run probably told her something happened. She probably realized that I would have suggested this place as a hideout. And of course, she knew where my father lived. She knows how to get in, too, but she's waiting for me to open the gate, because if we're not here, there's no reason to be opening the gate unnecessarily and risk someone seeing her."

"But how does she know that you'll—" Tonks began again.

"Because she knows me," Dylan interrupted again, getting a reproachful glare from Tonks. "Minerva knows that I would sense her when she arrived."

Harry looked at Dylan cautiously, asking, "Are you sure that—"

"Of course I'm sure that's her!" Dylan answered, her irritation rising.

"Then don't you think—"

"Yes, let's go before she thinks that no one's here."

Dylan started to walk towards the front door. Confused and surprised, Remus, Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed Dylan while Fred and George went back to their card game and Molly went to get dinner started.

"Tonks?" Remus called from the foyer. "Are you coming?"

"Sure." Tonks jumped up from the couch and half-ran to catch up with Remus, grabbing his hand in hers once she had reached him.

"Thank you," Remus smiled down at Tonks.

"For what?"

"Well, I really didn't want to leave you any sooner than I had to."

"Oh. Well then you're very welcome," Tonks gave him a cheerful smile.

The two of them left out of the front door, traveling down the path a little ways behind the teenagers as they made their way towards the gate where a small, tabby cat could be seen just on the other side.

Once Dylan, who was at the head of the group, had reached the gate, she immediately pulled her necklace off and unlocked the gate, opening it just far enough for the tabby cat to come in. Dylan closed it and locked it again, turning around to cheerfully greet her family friend.

At that moment, the cat transformed into Professor McGonagall.

"Well," McGonagall said, brushing her robes off, "it certainly took you long enough. I was beginning to wonder if you were here at all. But I am most certainly glad to see that you're all safe." She gave the group a small smile. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, how are you doing?"

"Fine, Professor," Hermione smiled at her teacher.

Ron nodded in response.

Harry merely shrugged his shoulders moodily.

McGonagall gave Harry a repromanding look, before starting up the path to the house with Dylan right beside her. When she reached Remus and Tonks, she said, "Remus, how are you?"

"Pretty good," he answered, "considering how much worse we would have been off had we not left headquarters. How are you, Minerva?"

"Very busy. You see, when Kingsley got the message that you were leaving and that Dylan here had predicted an attack, he only told Severus and myself. Severus and I had a few disagreements over which course of action would be best given the situation. We still have to contact the rest of the Order, let them know that tonight's meeting is being postponed until we can find a suitable location to hold it at. Oh! And I have to contact Severus, let him know that he and the others can come."

"Others?" Remus asked as McGongall pulled her wand out, issuing a silvery creature that quickly darted off.

Dylan answered for her, "She means Bill, Fleur, and Charlie."

"Yes, precisely," McGonagall agreed, looking at Dylan proudly like she was a student who had just answered a question right and deserved awarding of house points.

"We should get inside," Tonks suggested. "Mrs. Weasley is starting on dinner."

"Oh, Miss Tonks, I barely noticed you were there without your pink hair," McGonagall said, looking at Tonks. "How are you dear? I heard that you're expecting. Is it true?"

"Yes, I am," Tonks answered with a smile.

"Congratulations! I wonder…is the other rumor I heard true? Did Remus propose to you?"

"Yes, I did," Remus answered, unable to keep a grin from spreading across his face. "We're going to get married, hopefully, once this war is over."

"Don't talk like that, Remus!" McGonagall admonished him. "We are going to win this war, you two are going to get married, and I better get an invitation."

"Of course, Minerva," Remus replied with a sheepish smile.

"Good. Now let's get inside and see what wonderful food Molly has made for us tonight."

As they made their way up the path back to the house, McGonagall continued to ask Tonks questions about the baby, her ring, how Remus proposed, and what she was planning for the wedding. Tonks enjoyed the attention, even at the same time that she found it incredibly weird to be given this much attention by her old professor. Even so, Tonks always loved being the center of attention.

Once the group entered the house once more, Dylan led the way straight to the kitchen, where Molly was hard at work preparing a huge dinner.

As they entered, Remus said, "You best make it for four more, Molly, it seems we have more guests on the way."

"Really?" Molly asked excitedly as she bustled from the counter to the stove.

Minerva answered, "Yes, Severus is coming, and he's bringing your two oldest sons and your daughter-in-law.

"Oh, well that's wonderful! I think we can make do with a few more."

"I'm sure we can, Molly," Arthur said from his spot at the kitchen table, where he sat magically peeling potatoes.

"When should we expect them?" Molly asked joyously.

"Probably in a half-hour or so," Minerva answered.

"Oh, well then," Molly said, adopting the determined look of one about to go into battle, "I should get a move on. The dinner won't make itself."

Molly made pulled her wand out of the pocket of the apron she was wearing, and pointed it to the stove, where multiple pots appeared filled with various foods. A couple of them had self-stirring spoons sticking out of the brim of the pot. The Weasley matriarch was just pointing her wand towards the oven when Dylan piped up:

"You know, you could just—" Dylan squeezed her eyes shut, and all of a sudden the kitchen table was filled with heaping plates of food, ready to be served.  
"Oh," Molly lowered her wand, looking longingly at the oven with disappointment before switching her gaze to the already-prepared food now on the table. "I suppose that would work, too."

"I thought so," Dylan plopped down in the nearest chair at the large table, grabbing a roll as she did so and casually taking a large bite out of it.

"Well," Molly began as she regained her composure, "Seeing as the rest of our party won't be arriving for a little while longer, I'll just put a warming charm over all of this and we can all head to the living room to wait."

Ron scowled at his mother, despite the half a roll he was currently chewing. He shoved the other half in his mouth, grabbed two more for the trip to the living room, and stalked out of the room while Harry tried to hide his laughter at his friend. The rest of the group slowly followed Ron to the living room.

As they waited, Harry nervously explained to McGonagall the plan of action that he had come up with for horcrux hunting. The rest of his hunting party joined in with discussing the finer details. While they did that, Dylan and the twins went back to playing cards, this time talking Tonks into joining them.

The group had been waiting for somewhere close to forty minutes when Dylan suddenly proclaimed off-handedly, "They're here."

"Oh good," McGonagall said with relief, "I was beginning to get worried. Dylan, can you get the gate?"

"Yes," she answered before raising the bet and continuing her card game.

"Well, are you going to get the gate?" McGonagall asked impatiently.

"Nope."

Dylan scooped the pot of poker chips into her lap and began sorting the chips according to color.

"Dylan," McGonagall warned sternly.

Dylan rolled her eyes and sighed. "Oh all right, but do I have to let the asshole in, too?"

Harry hid a snort of laughter as he asked, "Is that what you call Snape?"

"Typically," Dylan answered offhandedly. "That, or whatever profanity first pops into my head. I particularly enjoy calling him whatever he happens to be calling me in his head at the time. That always annoys him."

Harry could no longer hide his laughter, and Ron and the twins joined him, as well.

Dylan leaned over to whisper something inaudible to Fred and George, earning the reply of them fervently nodding their heads with identical wicked grins spread across their faces. That was never a good sign.

Dylan then got up and made her way out of the door to open the gate and let in their dinner guests.

McGonagall suggested, "Why don't we get dinner on the table then, Molly, so we can serve it once they get here."

"Of course," Molly answered. "Just…where is the dining room?"

"I can show you," McGonagall answered.

She and Molly left the room, with Arthur in tow.

"I'm going to go see if they need help," Remus said to Tonks as he stood up.

"I'll come with you," Tonks said, reaching her arm up for Remus to pull her upright from her position on the floor.

"That's alright, love," Remus replied. "Why don't you stay here? I was just going to make sure there would be food that you'd eat, and if there isn't, then you'd be surrounded by smells that make you nauseous."

"Oh yeah…not such a great idea. I'll stay here, then."

Remus smiled and kissed her cheek before leaving the room.

Once he had left, Tonks turned her gaze to the rest of the group, conveniently the younger ones, too. She caught Fred and George exchanging an odd glance, as if they were trying to make up their minds on something.

Finally, Fred said conspiratorally, "Tonks, how would you like to be in on one of our master pranks?"

Tonks looked suspiciously at the twins. "What is it?"

"You have to tell us if you're in first," George answered.

Tonks chewed on her lip for a minute, debating whether the consequences would outweigh the benefits or not. _Well_, she thought, _they couldn't be planning something dangerous with their mother in the next room_. _What's the harm?_

"Sure, I'm in," Tonks answered reluctantly, hoping she wouldn't regret it.

"Good," Fred replied with a grin. "It involves Snape."

"I'm in," Harry said immediately.

"Me, too," Ron followed.

"Yes, well, we assumed that," George said in answer. "So you're still in, Tonks?

"Of course."

"Awesome," Fred replied. "And you, Granger?"

"What do I have to do?" Hermione answered promptly with a steely glint in her eyes.

* * *

Dylan and the new arrivals were now visible through the dining room window, making their way up the long path to the Fallacy. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred and George, Tonks, and Remus were all seated at the table, waiting to be allowed to dig in to the wonderful food sitting in front of them. 

Harry was caught off guard when Ginny walked into the room, deliberately avoiding Harry's gaze. He had been looking for her all day to no avail, but before he could say something to her, Ron spoke up.

"Oh, Ginny," Ron said loudly, "We're all going to—"

"Shhhh!" Hermione and the twins glared at Ron.

"What?" He asked, oblivious as ever.

They looked at Remus.

"Oh," Ron said in realization. "Forgot he was here, sorry."

Instead of demanding to know what was going on, as something fishy clearly was, Remus just said, "I hear no evil, see no evil."

The kids all beamed at Remus. Whichever twin happened to be sitting next to Ginny whispered the plan into her ear.

"Are you in on this?" Remus asked Tonks quietly.

"Maybe."

"And you're not going to tell me?"

"You'll see soon enough."

"Can you at least tell me one thing?"

"Maybe. What is it?"

"Is anything going to explode?"

"It's hard to say," Tonks shrugged.

"Oh, well that's comforting."

In the distance, they heard the large front door opening, and a few minutes later, closing shut with a bang. With their group in relative silence, they could hear voices as Molly, Minerva, and Arthur greeted the new arrivals. A few minutes later, the door to the dining room opened, and Charlie came in.

"Evening, Charlie," the twins said in unison.

"Wotcher, Charlie," Tonks greeted him with a friendly smile.

"Hey, Tonks," Charlie responded.

"I saved a seat for you!" Ginny said eagerly, patting the empty seat next to her. Charlie took the seat with a smile, ruffling Ginny's hair fondly as he sat down.

Suddenly, Dylan ran into the room, throwing herself into the nearest empty chair and nodding to the pranksters. Everything was going to plan.

Next to come into the room was Severus Snape. The rest of the group could still be heard in the front room, quite preoccupied with small talk. The only adults in the dining room were Tonks, who was in on the deal; Remus, the retired Marauder who may or may not tell (they were betting on not); Charlie, who was easy going and subject to enjoying pranks; and now Snape, who was, in fact, the subject of the particular prank at hand.

Snape was now fully inside the room, prowling for an empty seat as far away from them as possible. The door closed behind him. At that exact moment, the entire room (minus Remus and Charlie), said in unison:

"Evening, Asshole."

It took a second for the words to fully register in Snape's mind before he turned and stared at them all, his mouth hanging slightly open as his pasty skin flushed and as rage flared to life in his normally icy eyes.

Snape opened his mouth to retort with some nasty reply, but Molly walked in just then.

"Oh, Severus," Molly said quickly, "You can sit anywhere."

"Molly," Severus said in his typical loathing drawl, "It seems that—"

"No, no," Molly interrupted in her motherly way, "Come now. Sit down, Severus. The sooner you sit, the sooner we can eat. Ahh, here's everyone else."

The rest of the group filed in through the door, still talking amongst themselves.

"Come now," Molly shooed them towards the table. "Sit down, everyone, tuck in."

Snape's angry retort was lost in the commotion of a very large household digging in to a meal fit to feed a king. Harry, in particular, had a huge, satisfied grin plastered across his face as he and Ginny shared an amused glance.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Remus whispered in Tonks' ear as Snape finally sat down.

"Why?" Tonks replied just as quietly. "It's not like you would have joined in."

"Of course I would have."

"Really?" Tonks looked at him incredulously.

"Yes. After everything he's done, and particularly after that _gift_ he sent to our baby, hell yes. Especially if you'd told me that you made sure Molly and Minerva were out of earshot."

"Well, aren't we the troublemaker, Mr. Professor."

"The term is Marauder, love."


End file.
